f LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.? 

I y- 1 — 



Li *** 

! UNITED STATES OP^MERICA. \ 



-3" 



Preparing to Teach. 



FOR STUDY 



BY 



SABBATH-SCHOOL TEACHERS AND TRAINING CLASSES. 



^^ BY 

JOHN HALL, D.D.; EDWARD P. HUMPHREY, D.D., LL.D.; 

WM. HENRY GREEN, D.D., LL.D.; FRANCIS L. 

PATTON, D.D.; AND J. BENNET TYLER. 













PHILADELPHIA : 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 

1334 CHESTNUT STREET. 



PALESTINE!. 




3/wxi 
,//? 



S£f5*![CToiri 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereolypers and Electrotypes^ Philada. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Something more than one year ago the undersigned, 
after careful and laborious consultation, agreed on a plan 
of elementary study by them deemed suitable to be pur- 
sued by Sabbath-school teachers and candidates for this 
most important office. They further agreed to recommend 
the plan under their own names, in the hope that it might 
encourage the formation of normal classes for systematic 
study as a preparation for more efficient teaching. The 
form of recommendation was expressed in the following 
words : 

" In view of the widespread and growing interest in the 
training of Sunday-school teachers, the undersigned, Chris- 
tian workers, who have given the subject special study and 
acquired experience in its methods, unite in recommending 
the formation of normal classes in connection with Sunday- 
schools and seminaries of learning for the benefit of those 
who would become proficient Bible teachers. 

" We agree also in recommending the main features of 
the subjoined outline of elementary study, with the under- 
standing that such modification may be made in our respect- 



4 INTR OD UCTOE Y. 

ive Manuals as will not destroy the essential unity of the 
plan. 

" J. Bennet Tyler. 

" J. H. Vincent. 

" H. Clay Trumbull. 

" Warren Kandolph." 

The outline agreed on, as above indicated, has been in 
the main kindly followed by the gentlemen who have pre- 
pared this manual. 

It is meant to be a class-book for teachers and such as 
design to become teachers. It claims to be only an outline 
of the topics treated, and presupposes regular study of the 
subjects which in so brief a space can be little more than 
barely stated, and, if practicable, organized classes and com- 
petent teachers. Profoundly convinced of the imperative 
need of a higher order of teaching in our Sunday schools, 
of a larger number of teachers who are proficient in Bible 
knowledge and measurably trained in methods of teaching 
and in management of classes, this volume is submitted 
to the great army of Sunday-school workers and such as 
will some day enter the field, in the fervent and prayerful 
hope that it may meet a want, and be helpful to such as 
desire to do good and successful work for the Master in 
this most hopeful and important department of Christian 
activity. 



CONTENTS. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 



PAGE 



LESSON I. — Inspiration. — The Bible claims God as its author. — 

Transmission of the Scriptures 9-18 

LESSON II. — Evidences of Inspiration. — How did the book attain 

its present authority? — Miracles 18-23 

LESSON III.— Prophecies 24-28 

LESSON IV.— Structure of the Old Testament 28-34 

LESSON V. — Order and Design of New Testament Books 34-38 

LESSON VI.— " « " " " " 39-44 

LESSON VII. — Rules of Interpretation 45-49 

LESSON VIII. — Helps to Interpretation 49-54 

LESSON IX. — Types and Symbols. — 1. Suggested by circumstances.— 
2. Authority for finding types. — 3. Correspondence between types 
and the circumstances of the messenger. — 4. Unity in Scripture 
types 55-61 

LESSON X. — Difficulties in Scripture, and how to Deal with 
them. — 1. Where the ideas conveyed seem incredible. — 2. Difficul- 
ties in the nature of the book. — 3. Difficulties from error in tran- 
scription 61-67 

CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 

LESSON I. — Sacred Places. — Historical origin. — Designations. — The 
tabernacle. — Its structure. — Furniture. — As a whole. — Its imme- 
diate uses. — Symbolical meaning. — After history. — The temple of 
Solomon.— Of Zerubbabel.— Of Herod ..... 71-78 

LESSON II. — Sacred Persons. — Origin and history of the priest- 
hood. — Divine vocation of the sacred persons. — Dress. — Ceremo- 
nial holiness. — Functions of the priesthood. — Symbolical mean- 
ing. — Typical lessons. — Christ as priest 78-85 

LESSON III. — Sacred Rites. — Distribution into offerings and purifi- 
cations. — 1. Offerings, Characteristics of. — Whole burnt-offering. 
— Sin-offering. — Trespass-offering. — Peace-offering. — Bloodless- 
offerings. — Rites. — The blood. — Offerings of the poor. — 2. Purifi- 
cations. — Ceremonial uncleanness. — Significance of purification.. 85-92 

1* 5 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

LESSON IV.— Sacred Times.— 1. Distribution.— 2. The Sabbath.— 
3. Other seasons. — Historical relations of the Sabbath. — Feast' of 
trumpets. — Feast of convocation. — Pentecost. — Feast of taber- 
nacles. — Day of atonement. — Remarks. — 1. Efficacy of Mosaic 
ritual. — 2. Allowed departure from institutes 92-99 



BIBLE HISTORY. 

LESSON I. — From the Creation to the Exodus 102-111 

LESSON II. — From the Exodus to the Death of David 111-120 

LESSON III. — From the Death of David to the Birth of 

Christ 121-129 

LESSON IV.— The Life of Christ 130-139 

LESSON V. — The Labors of the Apostles 139-147 

GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 

LESSON I.— Palestine.— Its mountains 149-157 

LESSON II. — Plains and Valleys. — Seas, lakes and rivers. — Cli- 
mate. — Inhabitants and civil divisions 157-165 

LESSON III.— Cities 165-174 

LESSON IV.— Other Bible Lands 174-183 

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 

LESSON I.— Food 185-193 

LESSON II.— Clothing 193-202 

LESSON III.— Dwellings 203-210 

SUMMARY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
INTRODUCTORY 213 

LESSON I. — The Factors in Religion, Man and God. — 1. Man. — 

2. God. — Belief in God universal. — Atheism condemned 214-224 

LESSON II. — The Rule of Faith. — Where are we to find a standard 

of truth ?— Reason.— The Church.— The Bible 225-238 

LESSON III. — Sin. — Its nature. — Inability. — Original sin. — Adamic 

relation 238-244 

LESSON IV. — The Atonement. — Socinian view. — Sacrificial view. 245-251 

LESSON V. — The Person op Christ. — The Humanitarians. — Arians. 

— Nicene doctrine 251-260 

LESSON VI.— The Trinity.— Sabellian doctrine.— Athanasian... 260-267 



CONTENTS. 7 

PAGE 

LESSON VII. — Justification. — Nature of.— Ground of. — Means of.— 

Effect of 267-280 

LESSON VIII.— Regeneration,— Nature of.— -Mode of 280-285 

LESSON IX.— Election.— Arminian view.— Calvinistic 286-291 

LESSON X. — Sanctification.— 1. Subjectively considered. — Antino- 
mianism — Perfectionism. — Perseverance. — 2. Objectively consid- 
ered. — Divine agency. — A work. — Means 292-299 

LESSON XI. — The Means of Grace.— The word. — The sacraments. 

— Baptism. — The Lord's Supper. — Prayer 299-314 

LESSON XII. — The Future State. — The second advent. — Resur- 
rection.— Judgment. — Between death and judgment. — Sleep of 
the soul. — Hades. — -Purgatory. — After the judgment.— Hell. — 
Heaven 315-324 

HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 

LESSON I. — Place and Purpose of the Sabbath-School 327 

I. Its Relative Place. — Not a substitute for the home. — Not a sub- 
stitute for the church. — Not a secular school. — The most import- 
ant arm of the Church. — Entitled to supervision and support. — ■ 
Care in selection and training of teachers 327-330 

II. The Purpose of the School. — A Bible school. — More than a 
school. — Reaching the heart. — Supplementing the home.— Subserv- 
ing the church. — Amission agency 330-333 

LESSON II. — Organization and Management 333 

I. Organization. — Sympathy with the Church. — Officers, and how 
chosen 333,334 

II. Management. — Qualifications of superintendent and teachers. — 
Secure the best. — The office magnified. — Uniformity in class 
teaching 334-337 

LESSON III.— The Teacher's Office 337 

I. Its Sanctity and Divine Appointment. — The practice of the early 
Church. — Our Lord's example 337-339 

II. The Teacher's Power. — Its divine source. — The nature of the 
truth. — The manner of presentation. — Its gratuitous character. — 
The susceptibility of the taught. — Confidence easily won 339-343 

LESSON IV. — How to Study a Lesson 343 

I. The Importance of Preparation. — We teach wide-awake pupils. 
— We teach most important of all truth. — Teaching is an art. — It 

is a work of dignity 343, 344 

II. Study of a given Lesson. — It involves work. — Keeping ahead 
of work. — Early study. — Plan of the lesson. — Rules for study. — 
Helps to study. — Utilizing knowledge. — Odds and ends of time. — 
Study as a means of grace. — Prayerful study 344-349 

LESSON V. — How to Teach aLesson 349 

I. General Principles. — Simplicity. — Clearness. — Ambiguity. — 
Accuracy. — Style. — Conditions of effective teaching 349-354 

II. Manner in Teaching. — Patient. — Polite. — Encouraging. — Af- 
fectionate 354, 355 



o CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

LESSON VI. — How to Teach a Lesson, Continued 356 

Methods. — Have a plan. — Review. — Recitation. — Simultaneous 
teaching. — -Geography and history. — Pictorial. — The exact lesson. 
— Teach something well.—Illustrative teaching. — Lecturing. — The 
catechetical. — Spiritual import. — Jesus only. — Application. — The 
true conception. — Common errors 356 

LESSON VII.— How to Win and Hold Attention 364 

I. The Necessity of Attention. — Attention must be won. — Sur- 
roundings important.— Change of posture 364:, 365 

II. How to Win it. — By quiet determination. — By a quick eye and 
ear. — By simple devices. — By avoiding monotony 365-367 

III. How to Hold it. — By exciting interest. — By adaptation. — By 
recapitulation. — By judicious questioning. — By pictorial teach- 
ing. — By teaching how to study. — By winning love. — Four 
maxims 367-371 

LESSON VIII. — Pla.ce and Manner of Questioning 371 

I. The Place. — Importance gaining attention. — It excites thought. 

— It fastens truth. — Adapted to average teachers 372-374 

II. The Mode. — General principles. — Pupil's knowledge the base.— 
Link the known to what is taught 374, 375 

III. Classification. — Avoid vague, unreasonable. — Telling too 
much. — Rebuffing. — The simultaneous method. — The direct. — The 
logical. — Seven rules. — Review 375-3S0 

LESSON IX. — Power and Method of Illustration 380 

I. Importance of Methods. — Selection. — Adaptation. — Figura- 
tive 380-383 

II. Classification. — Verbal. — Narrative. — Visible. — Blackboard. — 
Maps. — Pictures. — Object teaching. — Object illustration 383 

LESSON X.— The Teacher's Week-day Work 3S8 

The teacher should know scholars — Confidence must be won. — 
Must be a real friend. — Choose fit times for visitation. — Avoid 
faultfinding. — Invite to the house. — Write letters. — Speak to each 
scholar alone 388-392 

LESSON XI.— Jesus the Model Teacher 392 

Our Lord's lowly lot. — His self-abnegation. — His tireless zeal. — 
His exhaustless patience. — His affectionate manner. — His exalta- 
tion of Scripture. — The great Teacher's method 392-397 

LESSON XII. — The Holy Spirit the Teacher's Guide and 

Helper 397 

I. Need of Mental Culture. — Education. — Knowledge of child- 
hood.— Of methods of illustration.— Bible study 397, 398 

II. Spirit's Aid Essential. — Better than miraculous power. — Than 
personal presence of Christ — Intangible potential force. — On all 
alike. — Positive teaching power. — Power a mystery. — It gives 
comfort. — Joy. — Promotes Christian growth. — Quickens the intel- 
lect. — Absolutely essential 398-403 

APPENDIX.— A Sunday-school constitution.— Helps 405-408 



Preparing to Teach. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 

By the Eey. JOHN HALL, D.D. 



LESSON L 
INSPIRATION. 

We have received from our fathers, and they from the 
generation tha^ preceded them, a collection of short trea- 
tises, which we call the Bible, and on which we rest our 
religious convictions. Have we evidence that the book can 
sustain these convictions? Is it what it claims to be? and 
if genuine, is it inspired ? 

What is evidence in a particular case depends on the 
nature of the case. Assertions concerning matter demand 
proofs of a material kind. No one proves that twenty 
packages are a ton weight by moral considerations. On the 
other hand, no one proves that a lie is wrong by weights 
and scales. So, to fix the date of an event, like the Decla- 
ration of Independence, no one employs mathematics ; nor 
would the historical truths that are here pertinent give any 
aid in solving a problem in Euclid. In other words, each 
separate line of inquiry requires evidence of its own kind. 
Have we appropriate evidence that we may rest our relig- 
ious convictions upon the Bible? 

Suppose a book put into your hand as a guide to Califor- 
nia, whither you expected to go and to require such a book. 



10 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

You would look into the book, and you would inquire about 
it. If the book avowed itself to be wholly occupied with 
minerals, if the style were plainly that of an uneducated 
person, if it obviously and certainly contradicted itself or 
what you certainly know independently, you would seek a 
better guide. Or if the bookseller in whose judgment you 
have confidence should assure you of its known worthless- 
ness, you would wisely reject it. 

On the same general principle let us ask, (l)'What does 
this book say for itself? (2), What can be said for it? 

I. The Bible claims to have God* for its author. Its 
opening books bear the name, as they record the words and 
w r orks, of Moses. But he was a prophet: "I will raise 
them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto 
thee" Deut. xviii. 18. But from Ex. iv. 14-16 we 
know that a prophet is one who speaks words from the 
mouth of another, and a prophet of God is one who speaks 
"from the mouth of God." See Isa. li. 16; Jer. i. 9. The 
other prophets claim to speak from the Lord : " the word 
of the Lord" comes to them, or "the hand of God was upon 
them." In the New Testament, Jesus speaks as God, or as 
uttering the words of the divine Father. The apostle 
Peter says of the writers (2 Peter i. 21), " Holy men spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." So they say of 
themselves. Among the last words of David we read 
(2 Sam. xxiii. 2), " The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and 
his word was in my tongue." Ezekiel, like the rest of the 
prophets, constantly says, "The word of the Lord came 

* We do not set out with an argument in proof of the being of 
God. We assume that our readers do not require this; that they 
feel within themselves that there must be a cause for all we see 
around us; that by the things that are made are declared to them 
"His eternal power and godhead." Kom. i. 20. The Scriptures 
assume this belief on the part of the reader, and set out with " In 
the beginning God created," etc. Gen. i. 1. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 11 

unto me, saying," and he rehearses it as Aaron repeated the 
words of Moses. No one can doubt that the book claims 
for itself that its writers give " the word of God." 

That is what we call " inspiration." So the book says 
of itself, " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." 
2 Tim. iii. 16. This inspiration the book assigns to the 
divine Spirit. Christ says that David " by the Spirit " called 
himself Lord. Matt. xxii. 43. David's words in the sec- 
ond Psalm, ver. 1, are ascribed to God in Acts iv. 25 : 
" Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said." The 
writers of the Old Testament say of themselves, or it is said 
of them by the writers of the New, that they were inspired 
by the Holy Ghost. Comp. Heb. x. 25 with Jer. xxxi. 33. 

The New Testament writers tell us of this Spirit being 
promised to them (John xvi. 13), of the fulfillment of this 
promise at Pentecost (Acts ii. 4), and they claim to speak 
and write in the Spirit — that is, with the mind of the Holy 
Ghost. See 1 Thess. ii. 13 and 1 Cor. xiv. 37. The question 
here is not whether they were right or not. The point is 
that they assert that they give their writings by inspiration 
of the Holy Ghost. 

They do not say, " I have thought out this," or " I can 
prove this," or "I have learned this from man," or "My 
conscience teaches me ;" but they say, " God hath revealed 
them unto us by his Spirit." 1 Cor. ii. 10. 

The question is not now as to how much they know of 
themselves, and by natural means, as when John describes in 
the gospel what he witnessed, nor is the question as to some 
parts being more important than others. The leaf on the 
tree is God's work because the tree is his work, and the 
book claims for each part that it is inspired of God be- 
cause the whole is inspired. 

It is no objection to this claim that the style, and even 
the language, of David differ from those of Paul. They 
claim to be employed as they are. When Ahasuerus pro- 



12 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

claimed liberty to the Jews (Esther viii. 9) to defend them- 
selves, and sent his edict " unto every people after their lan- 
guage," it was his proclamation, no matter in what hand or 
tongue the scribes wrote it ; and to have made it uniform in 
style and speech to all would have been unnatural and to 
most of the people useless. A proclamation from the Pres- 
ident of the United States in German, Scandinavian and 
English is his proclamation, and its fitness to the end is 
gained only by its going out in different forms. Nor are 
we embarrassed here with any question as to how the Spirit 
inspired the writers. The fact that they claim to be in- 
spired stands by itself, quite separately from the question 
of the maimer in which it is realized. We know of crea- 
tion, of two natures in one person, of resurrection and of 
regeneration as facts, but are ignorant of the mode ; even 
those who make the most of the power of reason admit 
their ignorance of the mode in which spirit and flesh are 
joined, but they own the fact. 

Nor, finally, are we troubled by the*general resemblance 
of this book to other books in figures of speech, formation 
of sentences, varieties of words and methods of stating 
truths, and variations of language in the statement of fact. 
Moses was like any other man when he was God's messen- 
ger. The word written is like the Word incarnate (John 
i. 14), who was so human in speech, feeling and experience 
that they who only look at one part of his life count him 
nothing but human: "Is not this the carpenter's son?" 
Matt. xiii. 55 But those who saw other parts of his life 
said, "This was the Son of God." Matt. xvi. 16; xxvii. 54. 
He was both. So the Bible has its human aspect in words, 
style, poetry, prose, history, sermon or letter, but it has, to 
those who look deeper, its divine side. It is the word, the 
oracles, of God. 

A person of candor and fair education who took the 
pains to know the Bible, finding in it this claim of inspira- 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, 13 

tion, would notice many things that support, as far as they 
go, this claim. He would say to himself, " If this book be 
inspired of God, then it has really one author throughout ; 
it ought, therefore, to have unity as a book/ 

This unity he finds in its representation of God, of man, 
of sin, of goodness, of sin's effects and of heaven. " The 
seed of the woman" is in Genesis (iii. 15), and is not lost 
sight of till the end. Here are forty writers, with great 
differences among themselves, but they have one purpose. 
They aim at building up virtue and goodness with perfect 
harmony and in God's name. Can they be toiling to make 
known the truth, well knowing themselves to be liars, and 
publishing on themselves the most dreadful sentence ? 

He would further be likely to say, " There is much in 
this book which I feel to be true. It tells me so much that 
I have done !" He might add, too, " It describes truly my 
needs, my restlessness, my fears, my sorrows, and it cer- 
tainly undertakes, if I will receive it, to disclose enough for 
them all — bread for my hunger, pardon for my sin, peace 
for my conscience, rest for my soul." 

Looking further into the matter, he would find that around 
him which harmonized with the Bible. It speaks much of 
the Jews as favored of God, living in Canaan, worshiping 
in synagogues, keeping the Sabbath, separate from others, 
cast out for sin, scattered over the earth ; and here are the 
Jews in exact harmony with all this, claiming, and able to 
prove their claim to any man of ordinary education, to have 
been for three thousand years as the Old Testament repre- 
sents them ; and here again are the Christians described in 
the New Testament, keeping the Lord's day, reading this 
book, setting up churches, preaching the gospel, as they 
claim to have been doing for over eighteen hundred years, 
and as scholars admit they have been doing, and all this 
as it is declared in the New Testament. 

Pushing his inquiries still further, he would find Egypt 

2 



14 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

and Canaan described at great length. " Now," he would 
say, " these lands are open to us ; let us see if the book and 
the lands suit each other." He finds history, geography, 
manners, customs and government all as in the book, and 
moreover that buried monuments, out of sight for thou- 
sands of years, only being unburied and read now, corrobo- 
rate the claim this book sets up.* He might well say to 
himself, " Everything in the book looks like its being true ; 
and it alleges that it is inspired ; it is worth my while to 
see what is said about it." This leads to the examination 
of evidences over and above the Bible's account of itself. 

The Transmission of the Scriptures. 

The Reformation in Germany took place in the early 
part of the sixteenth century. At that time the Scriptures 
were in many libraries in the Hebrew and Greek exactly as 
we have them now. How do we know this? Among many 
other ways, by the public controversies and discussions be- 
tween the Roman Catholic and the Protestant writers. It 
would be just as easy to deny the Reformation itself as to 
deny this fact. 

But discussion did not begin with the Reformation. Jews 
and Christians disputed ; Christians disputed among them- 
selves ; synods and councils were held for the discussion of 
unsettled points, and books enough were written on the con- 
troversies in the early centuries of the Christian era — books 
that still remain — to make a library. They prove that the 
Scriptures were then in substance what they are now. 

* A careful and candid thinker might further say to himself, " The 
believers in this book must feel very sure of its truth. If it were a 
fiction in any form, the unchanging East gives the means of detect- 
ing the fraud. But it is the Christians who go to the expense of 
sending exploring parties to the lands of the Bible that exact and 
precise information may be gained and circulated. They have no 
fear of furnishing the means of refuting the claims of their Bible." 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 15 

The New Testament furnishes proof that the Old Testa- 
ment existed, and as now, when the evangelists and apostles 
prepared their writings. They quote (Luke xxiv. 44) from 
every great division of them. The "second Psalm" is 
quoted thus in Acts xiii. 33. The events recorded in the 
Old Testament, and only there — such as creation, the fall, 
the flood, the call of Abraham and the history of the kings, 
Saul, David, Solomon — are reasoned and commented upon 
in such a way as shows that they were accepted as facts on 
Old Testament authority. See 1 Tim. ii. 13-15; Rom. v. 
14, 15 ; Matt. xxiv. 38, 39 ; Eom. iv. 1 ; and Acts vii. 45-47. 
But we are not left to the New Testament for proof here. 
At least two hundred years before Christ there was made, at 
Alexandria in Egypt, a Greek translation of the Hebrew 
Bible, of which the circulation was very large. That trans- 
lation, called the Septuagint, is evidence not only of the in- 
tegrity of the book at that time, two thousand years ago, 
but also of the importance attached to it and the vener- 
ation in which it was held as the sacred book of a multitude 
of people. 

Nor is it necessary we should believe all that has been 
written of the manner of its translation in order to feel 
the force of this argument. If any one should allege the 
Greek of Homer to be a concocted book, prepared by school- 
masters of this century for educational purposes, and rendered 
interesting as a story to beguile the pupils into learning 
dialects and metre, the ready answer would be (apart from 
their ability to produce it, and apart from all other evi- 
dences of its origin) that this could not possibly be the 
case, since Alexander Pope published a translation of 
our present Homer in 1720. Now, the proof is not more 
complete that the Greek translators found our Hebrew 
Bible two centuries before Christ than that Homer was 
found by Pope, as we have it, in the beginning of the last 
century. 



16 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

We do not dwell upon the testimony of Josephus, a learned 
Jew, who prepared several works, historical and controver- 
sial, in which the history and opinions of the Jews are fully 
laid bare for the information of the Romans, and in which 
the sacred books of the Bible are not only acknowledged, but 
enumerated in the Hebrew fashion, and distinguished from 
the Apocrypha. His works are in general and deserved 
circulation. The value of this testimony can be illustrated 
easily. Suppose at some future time a blundering foreign 
historian should confound the revolutionary and civil wars, 
and declare that the United States had their rise between 
1860 and 1870, a single page of Bancroft's History would 
be sufficient refutation. " Why," it would be enough to 
say, " the preface to Mr. Bancroft's great work is dated 
Boston, May, 1838, and the United States must have been 
then a considerable, recognized power, to warrant a man in 
writing a large history of them." It would be as easy to 
disprove the revolutionary war of this country as to dis- 
prove the fall of Jerusalem. 

The sacred Scriptures are not the only ancient books that 
have come down to us. We have Latin works, like Csesar's 
Commentaries and Virgil's Eneid ; and Greek works, like 
the history of Herodotus, and the history of Cyrus by Xeno- 
phon. These have been preserved, as the Scriptures were, in 
manuscript, carefully written on parchments and treasured 
up in libraries. They bear traces of their antiquity as real 
and distinct as the signs of age in old armor or old pic- 
tures. Indeed, this comparison falls short of the truth, for 
the attention bestowed upon armor, pictures and such ob- 
jects of antiquarian interest bears no proportion to that 
given, and most justly, to ancient manuscripts, many of 
which, being very rare, costly and of great literary value, 
were the boasted possession of kings, nobles, and rich cor- 
porations. No reasonable doubt exists that we have in 
substance Csesar's Commentaries or the history of Herodo- 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 17 

tus, of both which innumerable editions have appeared 
during the last three hundred years. 

But when we compare the authorities in ancient manu- 
scripts for our present copies of Herodotus with those for 
our present copies of the New Testament, we see how ample 
the ground is for our confidence. Be it remembered that 
the question is not here as to the truth or otherwise of the 
books ; it is only the question of their being in substance 
what was written and given out as inspired books by the 
evangelists and apostles. 

According to Isaac Taylor (1859), about fifteen manu- 
scripts of Herodotus are known to critics ; of these several 
are as late as A.D. 1450, several others of the twelfth century, 
and none proved to be older than the tenth century. This 
is above the average number of copies of classic authors, 
though some more ancient classical manuscripts exist, a 
Virgil in the Vatican claiming to be of the fourth cen- 
tury, but the bulk of such copies are between the tenth 
and fifteenth centuries. 

Now, when we come to the Scriptures, we find that editors 
have had under examination nearly five hundred ancient 
manuscripts of the Greek New Testament or parts of it, 
that there are copies from widely different sources, transla- 
tions having been made, says C. Tischendorf, into Latin, 
Syriac, Coptic and Gothic, "between the second and fourth 
centuries," and that we have at least two copies assigned to 
the middle of the fourth century, one of them possibly a 
specimen of an edition of fifty copies issued by the empe- 
ror Constantine in A. D. 331, under the care of Eusebius 
the historian. 

It is not necessary to follow farther this line of argu- 
ment. The Scriptures were widely circulated, were in the 
hands of persons of different nations and tongues, w r ere 
often in controversy, were producing changes and making 
monuments of themselves, were rendered into versions, were 
2* 



18 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

being quoted extensively and with every variety of pur- 
pose, and were often imitated in vain. It is not too much 
to say that if we have any evidence of a genuine work of 
antiquity coming down to us — say, from the Augustan 
age, such as the works of Virgil or Horace — the proof for 
the genuineness of the Scriptures is ten times as strong. 



LESSON II 
THE EVIDENCES OF INSPIRATION. 

Now that we have in our hands a book that claims to be 
from God, and to have been produced, not by man's effort, 
but by the Holy Ghost, it is impossible to avoid asking, 
Does the book show its peculiar origin by anything pecu- 
liar in itself, or is it a book that could have been made 
by mere men ? 

This question is very important. If made by mere men, 
it may be untrue, may mislead us, may be shown by and 
by to be in error, as Virgil and Socrates have been shown 
to be mistaken. But if it be from God, since we are sure we 
have it in substance as it came from the writers, it cannot 
but be a perfect rule for all the purposes for which it was 
given. 

Various lines of inquiry here open to us. We may ask 
of the book itself (a) how it came to be where it is now. 
In other words, we may argue that it could not have gained 
its present influence unless it were of God. We may ask 
(b) if its authors show by their knowing more than other 
men that they were inspired. This leads us to examine the 
prophecies. Or we may ask (c) if the style and general 
character of the book differ in any such degree from com- 
mon books as to show an uncommon origin. And finally, 
we may inquire if the fruits it has brought forth imply the 
heavenly origin of the seed. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 19 

It will not be possible in our space to follow out all these 
lines, but something will be said on each that will show 
how they can be followed. 

1. How did the book attain its present authority? Its 
earliest portion, the Pentateuch, came from Moses, the 
leader of Israel. He conducted the people out of Egypt 
against the will of Pharaoh, who demanded proofs that he 
had a right to interfere. Ex. vii. 9. Moses gave as he had 
received from God (Ex. iv. 2-7), and showed to the people 
(Ex. iv. 30) the miraculous proofs that the Lord sent him. 
The magicians said in effect, These do not prove anything ; 
we can do the same. Or they said, in effect, Our gods are 
as strong as this Jehovah. Ex. vii. 12 and viii. 7. The 
plagues that followed proved Moses' and disproved the 
magicians' assertion ; and though they did not soften 
Pharaoh's heart, they convinced all Israel that the Lord 
was speaking to them by Moses. " How do we know that ?" 
it may be said. Because the people did such things as no 
people would do unless so convinced. They left their homes 
in a most fertile land (Gen. xlvii. 6), where they had abun- 
dance (Ex. xvi. 3), set out for Canaan, engaged in dan- 
gerous wars, and submitted to heavy tithes and numerous 
burdensome regulations in dress, manners, food and wor- 
ship. But how do we know they did so except from the 
book itself concerning which we are inquiring ? We know 
it from abundant authority outside the book, such as Jose- 
phus and the Greek and Latin writers. And, best of all, 
we know it from the actual people themselves, whom God 
has scattered over all lands, alike illustrations of the oldest 
and also of the latest portions of his book. In other words, 
Judaism was established over the minds of a race by a 
series of miracles, including the manna and others in the 
wilderness, and in the conquest of Canaan, which did not 
prove the truth of the things said directly, but which proved 
that the Lord was with Moses and Aaron. The fair in- 



20 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ference was that they should be obeyed. They had creden- 
tials from the Almighty. 

The Hebrews did not, alas! adhere to God's worship. 
He was offended with thein, and often chastened them. 
Among other means employed for their good, he raised up, 
as he had promised by Moses (Deut. xviii. 18), reformers 
whose office it was to bring back the people to obedience. 
Such men were Samuel, Elijah and Elisha. They spoke 
in God's name. But how was it to be known that he had 
sent them ? Partly by their speaking the same things as 
God had said in his law. But the people did not know, or, 
knowing, no longer believed in, that law. Then the creden- 
tials were renewed, and Samuel (1 Sam. xii. 17), Elijah (2 
Kings ch. i., etc.) ; and Elisha (2 Kings ch. iv. and v.) pre- 
sented them to the people, who received them, and acted 
upon the message so attested, as in the slaying of the 
prophets of Baal. 1 Kings ch. xviii. 

In the " fullness of time " Christ came. The nation was 
corrupt ; the sceptre was departing ; the heathen were in 
the ascendant. The Roman power had opened up much 
of the world to safe journeying, and the Greek language 
had been learned over all the principal countries. Just as 
one can travel over this continent and be understood every- 
where in English, so, then, one reigning race and one tongue 
of the learned prevailed, so that while Israel was under 
Roman sway there was opportunity for any message through 
Israel, to the world, to go abroad. Then Jesus Christ came 
(Gal. iv. 4) ; he was a Jew (Rom. ix. 4, 5), and his message 
w y as counted at first a Jewish message. Acts xvi. 3. 

But the Redeemer of men was a babe, a man, counted 
" the carpenter's son," poor among poor men. How should 
it be known that he came from God ? How should men 
be assured that he had authority to require and execute re- 
forms ? He replied by the works which he did. John v. 36. 
" The works that I do in my Father's name, they testify of 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 21 

me." John x. 25. So he offered evidence to John's disci- 
ples on the question, " Art thou he that should come, or look 
we for another ?" Luke vii. 19-23. And on all candid 
minds the evidence produced the due and intended effect. 
Nicodemus speaks for all such: "No man can do these 
miracles that thou doest except God be with him." John iii. 2. 
By his miracles, of healing for the most part, by his resur- 
rection and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and by the 
continuance of this power of working miracles for a sufficient 
time in the world, men w T ere convinced that God was speak- 
ing by him and to them. And if so, then this message 
must be true. If he says, " I and my Father are one," it 
must be true. If his disciples say, " Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," it 
must be true. So men argued. So we would be bound to 
argue now if the like work were proceeding before our 
eyes. 

It is not meant, bear in mind, that this is all that the 
miracles were meant to do. They were far more than dis- 
plays of divine power. They showed character and feel- 
ing as well as might, He fed thousands by a miracle, for 
" he had compassion on the multitude." Matt. xv. 32. He 
raised the widow's son to life because "he had compas- 
sion on her." Luke vii. 13. They who saw him raise Laz- 
arus saw him weep with Martha and Mary (John xi. 35, 
36), and they drew the right conclusion : " Behold how he 
loved him." But it is not on the moral but the evidential 
value of the miracles we are now dwelling. 

By such signs and wonders Jesus led men to believe him 
to be from God, and a band of disciples gathered around 
him. They were men of ordinary talents and observation, 
moving in his own rank and living with their Master. 
They had opportunity to judge of him living, and to iden- 
tify him when risen as the same who was crucified. 
Themselves believing him the risen Lord, they persuaded 



22 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

others of it, till the cities were filled with his doctrine, and 
in every land there were preachers and churches of Christ. 
Acts xi. 1 ; xix. 26. 

How do we know this except from the book the truth 
of which we are proving ? We are not dependent on the 
Scriptures for the evidence. Heathen writers like Pliny, 
the edicts of Roman persecutors and the researches of 
modern historians like Gibbon, furnish the proof. It would 
be vastly easier to show that Columbus did not discover 
America, but that it was always just as it is now, than to 
disprove the history of the planting of Christianity. 

But, it may be said, why did not miracles remain with 
the preachers of Christ ? We may not know all God's rea- 
sons, but we are sure he wastes no power. The wooden 
support remains under the solid arch only till the cement 
has hardened, and the fastenings remain on the graft only 
till it has united with the tree, and the splints remain on a 
fractured limb only till the parts have knit ; and so mir- 
acles remain with the New Testament Church until a living 
body of Christian worshipers has been raised up in suc- 
cession to the Jewish Church and the New Testament dis- 
pensation has gained a footing in the earth. 

But it may be said that miracles have been wrought by 
others than the Lord's messengers ; and if so, how can they 
prove a divine commission ? We reply, There is no evidence 
of a real miracle ever having been wrought in the world 
but by God's servants and for the vindication of his truth. 
Miracles appear to be the seal appended to the commission 
of God's messenger whenever a new kind of communication 
is proceeding from him. That seal has been imitated with, 
more or less success. There have been and will be forge- 
ries of it, but it is, we may be sure, entrusted to no hand 
but those of God's servants. 

But, it may be said, did not the Egyptian magicians do 
as Moses did ? They appeared to do so, but it was not by 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 23 

the finger of the true God, or even any god, but by their 
enchantments. When they had due notice and had time 
to make their preparations, they copied the miracles suf- 
ficiently to give color to Pharaoh, who wished not to be- 
lieve. When they had no notice and no preparation, they 
were impotent (Ex. viii. 12), and said, "This* is the finger 
of God." See Ex. ix. 11. From this time onward they 
stand aside, powerless sufferers, with the rest of the Egypt- 
ians ; and " the thing that has been is the thing that will 
be." 

But does not the New Testament forewarn us that " signs 
and lying wonders " will be wrought (2 Thess. ii. 9) in 
furtherance of " that wicked " ? True ; but why should we 
not understand the efforts of the modern, in the same sense 
as we are compelled to do those of the ancient, magicians ? 
Why not understand these wonders to be addressed to 
ignorance, and not only intended to bolster up lies, but 
themselves lies ? Men who want to believe or to disbelieve 
are easily convinced. Miracles have won men to Christ 
against their natural corruption. The show of them is suf- 
ficient to justify to men their belief of Christ's opponents 
and rivals. 

The conclusion, we think, is established that the Scriptures 
are attested to us by miracles ; that each succeeding com- 
mission from God has, as it were, his sign manual ; that the 
Scriptures teach us their value as evidence ; that they had 
and have power to prove that those who wrought them 
came from God; and that to have deceived the disciples 
and the multitudes, and set up Christianity on evidence that 
was not overwhelming, would itself have been a greater 
miracle than any credited by Christians. 



24 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

LESSON III. 
THE PKOPHECIES. 

There is no need to draw a sharp line between miracles 
and prophecies, which, in point of fact, are miracles of 
knowledge. The turning of water into wine is something 
impossible to man's power ; to announce the mode, time 
and circumstances of an event out of all human probabil- 
ity, centuries before it happens, is impossible to man's 
wisdom. Divine power appears in one, divine knowledge 
in the other. 

But the wisdom and goodness of God appear in giving 
these two kinds of evidence. The miracle of power im- 
presses the beholder directly; the miracle of knowledge 
awaits the developments of time to give it convincing 
force. We in the nineteenth century do not behold the 
miracles. The contemporaries of the prophets and apostles 
appear to have in this an advantage over us. But they 
could not see the force of prophecy, as we do, in its fulfill- 
ment. The nearer the miracle of power, the greater its 
convincing force ; but the convincing force of the prophecy 
increases with time. There is equality of privilege, there- 
fore, and we are no losers of evidence by the ages inter- 
vening between us and the messengers from God. 

In weighing the argument from prophecies, we leave out 
of account the Old Testament predictions fulfilled in the 
New, because he who denies the divine origin of the Bible 
might allege that the forger of the prophecy forged the ful- 
fillment, as the writer of a novel makes the second volume 
to correspond with the first. We dwell on those predictions 
in the Scriptures for the fulfillment of w r hich we look en- 
tirely outside of the Bible records. 

Two things, therefore, are necessary to the understanding 
of this evidence — a knowledge of what is written in the 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 25 

word, and some knowledge of the facts of secular history. 
The latter need not be technical. No one need be deterred 
from the investigation by want of time for extensive read- 
ing. An ordinary good education either affords, or puts 
within one's reach, the requisite historical knowledge. 

To indicate the method of examination without length- 
ened statement w r ill be sufficient. Many scholars now 
occupy themselves with the study of ancient remains. The 
site of Babylon is rich in these. Brick was used in build- 
ing, and the ancients often inscribed names and dates on 
their bricks. Rich, Ker Porter, Eawlinson and others in 
English, like Niebuhr in German and M. Mohl in French, 
have described and compared the ruins of ancient Babylon, 
fixing sites by the aid of Herodotus and others who have 
minutely described the greatness of this once magnificent 
capital. Let any one now read the description of the site 
and the words of Jer. li. 37, 43, 44, 58 ; Isa. xiii. 21, 22, 
and xiv. 22, 23. These prophets described not only what 
came long after their own time, but what has continued 
until our own. Nor are we dependent upon the Scriptures 
for an account of the greatness or the fall of Babylon. 
Berosus, Herodotus and Xenophon have written of it ; and 
the evidences dug from the heaps of ruins explain difficul- 
ties left in the histories, and show the Bible account to be 
accurate, while Xenophon's is partly a romance.* The 
drunken orgies of the defenders, the refusal of the invaders 
to be bought off, the suddenness of the capture and the 
name of the victor, — all these are among the particulars 
mentioned by Isaiah. Josephus tells us of the steps taken 
by Cyrus in consequence of the prophecies of Isaiah one 
hundred and forty years before. See Ezra i. 1-4. 

Layard's Nineveh is now a popular and well-know r n book. 
It lays bare sculptures buried out of sight for over two 

* See Kawlinson's article on "Babylon" in Smith's Biblical Dic- 
tionary. 

3 



26 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

thousand years in the ruins of the city, and which prove at 
once its former greatness and the accuracy of Scripture 
notices of the place. Jonah iii. 3. The value of these 
remains has been recognized by all Oriental scholars, many 
of whom are successfully engaged in translating the disen- 
tombed records. With his accounts the student can com- 
pare Nahum i. 8-10 ; Zeph. ii. 13, 14, 15. One of the most 
convincing elements in this argument is founded on the fact 
that for a long time, owing to error or ignorance, there ap- 
peared to be inaccuracies in the Scripture accounts such as 
a forger never would have left behind him, but which mod- 
ern research has shown to be only in appearance. 

The same kind of comparison may be followed up be- 
tween the Moab of Scripture (Isa. xv., xvi. ; Jer. xlviii.) 
and the Moab explored by Graham and Porter {Cambridge 
Essays, and Five Years in Damascus). So we may place 
Edom and the Ammonites of Jer. xlix. in the light of 
reports made by Burckhardt, Mangles, Lord Lindsay, and 
other recent travelers. Egypt, as depicted by the book of 
Exodus and verified to us by Wilkinson, may be studied 
in Jer. xlvi. 19, Ezek. xxx. 13, and in the works of modern 
writers sufficient of themselves to form a library. The same 
remark applies to the Tyre of Solomon's time (1 Kings 
v. 9), of Isa. xxiii., of Jer. xxv. 22 ; xxvii. 3, of Ezek. 
xxviii. 2-12, of Zech. ix. 3, 4, with the descriptions of it by 
Harris, Pococke, Hasselquist, Volney, Robinson, Stanley 
and Penan. 

It is quite worthy of notice that increasing travel and the 
research and literary enterprise of our time are bringing 
this department of the evidence of divine inspiration into 
prominence at the same moment that men, pursuing other 
lines of scientific inquiry, reject the supernatural and deny 
the existence of miracles. God does not "leave himself 
without a witness." 

But if there be any who cannot find the means of making 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 27 

such examination as the foregoing, there is another line 
open to them. When a court chaplain was asked to give 
an argument for the divine origin of the Christian religion 
in the shortest and most intelligible form, he replied, The 
Jews. There could not have been a more effective reply. 
Let us see how the argument stands as regards this remark- 
able people. The Hebrews had a land of their own, given 
them by God, after long foregoing promise, with most 
impressive accompanying circumstances, and under solemn 
covenant. If any race could be supposed to own and be 
expected to retain their land while they continued to exist, 
the Jews might have been counted upon as that people. 
They had a divinely-appointed ritual, with a hereditary 
priesthood, and a definite and well-appointed system of sac- 
rifices, through which sin was confessed, divine anger depre- 
cated and divine favor entreated. The abandonment of 
this ritual by the people w T as a most unlikely event. 

The nation was singularly compacted together by race, 
by history, by religion, by possessions ; and its dispersion 
over the earth might have seemed among the most improb- 
able of vicissitudes. We could conceive of the nation being 
crushed out, or of the fragments of it preserving the sacri- 
ficial rites, or of the poor remains of the separated race 
holding together like the tribes of our own Indians ; but 
not one of these contingencies has occurred. The magnifi- 
cent kingdom as it stood in Solomon's time is no more ; the 
temple is the ruin of a ruin ; Jerusalem has none of its 
former glory ; the laud, as compared with what it was 
once, is desolate ; the altar no longer smokes with sacrifice 
in Palestine or elsewhere ; the people are scattered ; tribes 
are lost ; the priesthood is of little account, though rabbis 
may be found attached to the synagogues, in which are 
read, as of old, in the old Hebrew, the sacred books of the 
nation. There is enough distinctness about the people to 
mark them off from other races and to render emphatic 



28 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

and indisputable the fulfillment of the ancient predictions. 
Who can tell where are the representatives of ancient 
Egypt, of Assyria, of Carthage, of the empire of Rome? 
But as to the Jews — who build their places of worship among 
us, and shut out from professions, and formerly from the 
occupation of land and from politics, have concentrated 
their great energy on money-making — who can doubt their 
identity with the people whom the Lord brought out of 
Egypt, whom David ruled, who crucified Jesus, whom the 
Romans subdued and dispersed? 

Now, in the light of these familiar facts, to doubt which 
would be to doubt all history and to question the evidence 
of the senses, one may study with advantage the language 
of the great lawgiver to the people in Lev. xxvi., in which 
one finds every feature of the present condition of the Jew- 
ish people. And yet their condition now is one of honor 
and peace compared with what it once was over all the 
world, when "Christian" princes gratified at once their 
avarice aud their fanaticism by persecuting and plundering 
the Jews; for the time was when there was literal truth in 
the language inscribed on a lowly stone in the corner of the 
necropolis at Glasgow where Jews are buried — 

" The wild bird hath her nest, the fox his cave, 
Mankind their country, Israel but the grave." 



LESSON IV. 
THE STRUCTURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

That collection of works which we call the Old Testa- 
ment contains thirty-nine separate treatises. Some of them 
are historical, like Exodus; some are poetical, like the 
Psalms; some are, like Daniel, part history and part pro- 
phecy. These books, by many different authors, were pro- 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 29 

duced at widely different periods, stretching over at least a 
thousand years. The earlier writers could have known 
nothing of what was to be produced by their successors. 
Nor could their successors possibly know the place to be 
given to their works if preserved for future generations. 
Yet it must be obvious to every careful reader that these 
treatises have a true unity among them. Examine an En- 
cyclopedia or Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, and you see 
at a glance that there was an editor who corresponded with 
various writers, assigned their parts, and took care that 
each should have his place. You would not be likely to 
believe that without concert or a common purpose all these 
writers had happened to contribute each a share, which when 
put together happened to make an Encyclopedia. But when 
the writers are unknown to one another and are spread 
over a thousand years, such an accident is out of the ques- 
tion. 

Then was it by the choice of the copyists or the book- 
binders of later time that we have these books as they now 
stand ? Or is there arrangement, such as one sees in the 
building of a house with foundations, walls, windows, roof? 
Is there a structure such as one sees in the human body, 
each part fitted to the other parts and to the whole? 

Suppose for a moment our Bibles began with any other 
book than Genesis; in the absence of that book what a host 
of unanswered questions we should have! Imagine Exo- 
dus the first book. Who is Joseph ? Levi ? Israel ? The 
God of Abraham — who is he ? and the further on in the 
volume we suppose it to begin, assuming it to be given, the 
more numerous the questions. But this book begins at the 
beginning of the world, as we have it, and of the race. 
" AVhat am I? and from whence?" are questions that must 
be answered by any one to whom a Bible is in the least 
intelligible. These questions the opening book answers. 

How did the existing state of things begin ? " Matter 

3* 



30 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

is eternal/' said man. " No, it was created," this book re- 
plies. "Matter is evil," say the dualists, who thought 
there were two rival principles, the good and the evil, the 
latter having to do with matter. ''No," says this book; 
" God made it, and all very good." " These heavenly lights 
are God," said Eastern, nations. " No," says Genesis ; 
" God created them, and all else." So that nature, which 
is before grace, is accounted for and put in its proper place 
in Genesis, and without one line of unnecessary or bewil- 
dering detail. 

But if all was made "very good," how is it that we have 
so much evil? The record of the fall is the answer. But 
why should the sin of Adam and Eve do so much evil ? 
Because, among other reasons, men form a race. Then 
why are not they found with one tongue, if one race? The 
record of Babel is the reply. Then why is there any dis- 
tinction among these scattered fragments of a race? Be- 
cause God chose out of all a people of whom Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob were the heads, to bear his name and re- 
ceive his law. 

But perhaps these are only mythical accounts, half 
poetry, half religion, intended to satisfy men. Then is 
Joseph mythical ? or Egypt? or Moses? Are the sacrifices 
mythical? or the Jews of our day? Where does the myth 
end and the history begin ? The book of Exodus is the 
answer to the question with which a reader of Genesis would 
lay down the book. Did God visit the people? Did he 
bring them out? and when they were brought out, how did 
he train them ? What was done with them ? The remain- 
der of the Pentateuch settles these questions. 

And not only so, but it provides as it were for its own 
preservation. The right of the people to their land, of 
each tribe to its inheritance, of the priests to their main- 
tenance, of the debtor to the return of the laud with which 
he had been forced to part at the jubilee, — all this was set- 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, 31 

tied in the law of Moses. The dress, habits, rites, taxes, 
and civil affairs of the people were determined authori- 
tatively by this law. They might, and, alas ! did often, turn 
away from its moral and spiritual precepts, but they were 
held fast as a people by its social and political arrange- 
mefits. The legislation of the Pentateuch made the Jewish 
people, and the Jewish people attest the Pentateuch. 

The succession of the book of Joshua to those of Moses 
is as natural as his elevation to pow T er after the death of 
his great leader. How God fulfilled " the promises made to 
the fathers " is here set forth, and the faithfulness of God 
is proved. God is true, though every man be a liar. 

But suppose the record closed with Joshua; we should 
be left with many natural yet unanswered questions. Did 
the people follow the law fully ? Was the ominous an- 
nouncement of. decline, made by Moses (Deut. xxxi. 16) 
and renewed by Joshua, realized ? Did repentance follow 
punishment, as the Lord said ? The book of Judges (of 
which Puth is an appendix) replies with its various apos- 
tasies, humiliations, and restorations by the means of judges 
whom God raised up for the purpose. 

The judges form the connecting link between Moses and 
the theocracy he guarded so w r ell and the new form of 
government, in their choice of which, though God gave 
the people the desire of their hearts, yet he beheld a de- 
parture from himself. 1 Sam. viii. 7. The kingdom be- 
comes historical. Suppose we had not the books of Sam- 
uel and the Kings ; we should be sorely perplexed by the 
record on brick and stone from Nineveh and from Assyr- 
ian palaces now becoming legible to men. Moabite stones, 
instead of being helps and proofs of Scripture, would be 
hopeless puzzles to us. " We have the theocracy of the 
early Jews," men might say, " and w T e have the scattered 
modern Jews without king or priest in a condition very 
unlike that of their fathers, indeed ; but here is notice of 



32 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Hebrew kings, their wars, their victories, their defeats. 
What is the meaning of this ?" 

The books of Samuel and the Kings reply to this question. 
They illustrate further still the declensions, guilt, and pun- 
ishment of the people, and show us how the Prophets rose 
to influence and authority. A rebellious people forgets 
God's law. The knowledge of himself is in danger of dy- 
ing out. These men are raised up, the counterpart of the 
judges, to reform, to teach the people, to vindicate God, 
and to prepare the Jews — that is, the Church of God as it 
then stood — for a new and different state of things, in which 
the priest should be esteemed only historically and as he 
foreshadowed Jesus Christ, the great High Priest. 

He who visits Rome or reads Eoman history cannot 
help becoming acquainted in some degree with the Hebrew 
temple. The arch of Titus recalls it. Suppose we had not 
these books ; how incomplete our knowledge would be ! 
" Here," one might say, " we have Moses and a tent in 
which the sacred vessels of the Hebrew religion are stored ; 
and in later times we have the scattered Hebrews without 
even that ; what is the meaning of this temple?" The his- 
tory of Solomon is the answer. But it would not be intel- 
ligible — his prayer, for example, at the dedication — if we 
had not the history of David. Nor would that history be 
intelligible without that of Saul and the wars in which 
the house of Saul disputed the throne with David. The 
narrative, however, of Solomon's enormous outlay of money, 
zeal, and taste on the edifice replies to all these questions, 
and explains, moreover, the eager attachment of the race to 
Jerusalem and their national temple. 

But was all this career of rise and fall, revival and decay 
simply for the maintenance of a kingdom ? No, truly. The 
rational was in order to the moral, and this in a twofold 
sense. 

1. The Hebrews were to be trained in the fear and love 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 33 

of God. Was the training a total failure? No. How do 
we know this ? The devotional writings of David and others 
of his time furnish the reply. The heart of the Church in 
all ages has beaten in response to their testimonies. In 
love to God, trust in his word, sense of his majesty, admi- 
ration of his mighty acts, cleaving to him, thirsting after 
him, the heart of the Church has never risen above these 
sacred compositions. They are the evidences that the in- 
stitutions were in order to something higher, that the Jew- 
ish system was the scaffolding for a great spiritual building, 
and that it was not, after all, reared in vain. Besides, these 
psalms, to be fully intelligible to us, require the history, pre- 
cisely as the Epistles of the New Testament require the 
Acts of the Apostles. 

2. The Hebrews had a relation to the nations of the 
earth, to whom they were by their laws and institutions* to 
give light. Ex. xxxiii. 16. And so, without any will of 
theirs, they were in contact not only with the Egyptians, 
at that time the first of the nations, but later with Assyr- 
ians, Medo-Persians, Grecians, and Romans. The great em- 
pires of the world had brought to their notice the Lord 
God of the Hebrews. The record of this is given us in the 
closing portions of Kings and Chronicles and in Daniel, 
and the remainder is matter of prophecy, of which the 
New Testament and later history give the fulfillment. Nor 
is this overlooked in the composition and structure of the Old 
Testament, for the books of Ezra and Nehemiah illustrate 
the influence of the Jews on surrounding nations, and at 
the same time, through the temple, connect together the Old 
Testament and the New. 

It only remains to say that the prophets— commonly dis- 
tinguished as the four major and the twelve minor — 
were at once the teachers of their time, the organs through 
which God declared his will and the duty of the peo- 
ple, and the means through which the diviuely-given re- 



34 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ligion was and is attested to men, some of their predictions 
receiving fulfillment within the time covered by the Old 
Testament, and yet others within the time of the New 
Testament, while some still remain unfulfilled to exercise 
and sustain the faith of the people of God. They are most 
wisely placed at the end of the volume, because the transi- 
tion is made through them from a state of things in which 
the priest is the prominent actor and leader to another 
condition of affairs in which " apostles, prophets, evangel- 
ists, pastors and teachers" become the appointed means of 
maintaining divine service. Eph. iv. 11. 

These various component elements of the Old Testament 
were in three divisions in the Jewish method of arranging, 
the third including the devotional writings, which they 
called Hagiographa, and at the head of which they placed 
the Psalms. Hence our Lord said, at once setting his seal 
on the Old Testament and showing the real unity of the 
whole, " All things must be fulfilled which were written 
in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, 
concerning me." Luke xxiv. 44. 



LESSON V. 



THE OKDER AND DESIGN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 
BOOKS. 

Pursuing in substance the same plan here as in the last 
chapter, we inquire, concerning the treatises composing the 
New Testament, Did the transcribers and roll-makers settle 
their order ? Is it by an accident in the process of collection 
and transmission that they lie as they do, the Gospels pre- 
ceding the " Acts of the Apostles," and this book followed 
by the Epistles, the whole closing with "Revelation"? 

For it is to be borne in mind that we have no apostolic 
manuscripts. Such venerable documents, had they remained 



v 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 35 

to us, would have been worshiped as relics. In the Mura- 
torian Fragment, of which the date is between A. D. 160-170, 
the books are in the order in which we have them now, ex- 
cept that the Epistle to the Bomans is placed after those to 
other churches. The catalogue of Eusebius (A.D. 340), 
which may be regarded as that of a royal edition of the 
Scriptures under Constantine, gives our present order. 
Athanasius (A.D. 373) repeats this order, and drops all 
mention of "controverted" books, which some persons 
thought inspired, while some doubted. The council of 
Carthage, which enjoyed the presence of Augustine, gave a 
catalogue varied from ours in this only, that it places James 
the last, except Jude and Revelation. 

The Syrian Bible, often called the Peshito Version, and the 
old Latin Bible, of which the Vulgate is the later representa- 
tive — that is, the Scriptures of the East and of the West — give 
us our present order. The substance of these statements is 
that the Church nearest the time of writing, when the history, 
relations, and uses of the component parts of the New Testa- 
ment were understood, was led, in the watchful and control- 
ling providence of God, to settle upon that order with which 
we have become so familiar. The time of the composition 
of the several treatises was disregarded, and natural fitness 
determined the arrangement. In the Koran we might as 
profitably begin with the middle or the later parts as with 
the beginning. It would matter little in what order Bacon's 
Essays are arranged. Not so this collection of works. Books 
of science usually set out with formal statement and set 
forth " orderly results." But we seem to see the New Testa- 
ment grow as we proceed with the study of its successive 
portions. 

Its two main elements come to us in this wise : 
(1.) Christ Jesus, in person, illustrates and enforces cer- 
tain truths to his disciples, of which we have the record in 
the Gospels. 



36 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

(2.) He promises to them his Holy Spirit for their further 
enlightenment, which promise is fulfilled, and under such 
divine guidance the rest of the volume is furnished to the 
Church. 

This is the New Testament revelation. All decrees of 
councils, all opinions of venerable fathers and ancient writers, 
all creeds, symbols of belief, confessions of faith, only repre- 
sent degrees of human comprehension of this revelation, and 
have authority over the human conscience in so far as they 
can support themselves on this revelation. 

Look more minutely at the plan of this New Testament. 
We open the book and begin with the Gospels. Here is God 
in the flesh, Christ the revealer of God. He comes from the 
bosom of the Father; he stands in the presence of men. Be- 
hind him is the mystery of the eternal and the infinite; before 
him is the human race in need of light as to that infinite. He 
has something in common with both God and man. He will 
tell us what we wish to know. He is the source of doctrine 
as well as the subject of the Gospels. Now that he has given 
the revelation, what will men do with it? The response is 
in -the Acts of the Apostles. Here is the truth of God in 
human hands in actual contact with men ; what is the result ? 
As the pupil learns grammar or arithmetic in school, it is 
common to give abstract rules illustrated by appropriate 
examples. The Gospels give us the Saviour's doctrines ; the 
"Acts" present them, so to speak, in actual application. 

As this application is made to various conditions of the 
human mind, some truths need to be unfolded, some de- 
fended and some guarded. Some will assail truths, and 
they must be defended ; some find them obscure, and they 
must be set in clear light. The Epistles furnish the result, 
and we have anticipated and met in them the difficulties, 
objections and perversions of succeeding races of men. 

But this religion of the New Testament creates a com- 
munity as well as saves individuals. What will be the fate 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 37 

of the community? The book of Revelation is the answer. 
A man standing on a hill overlooking a battle, though 
unable to comprehend each order and manoeuvre, yet can 
see if the troops that held a particular position in the morn- 
ing are driven from it and their opponents hold it at night, 
and so judge of the decisive result. So, as we seem to watch 
the opposing hosts in this wonderful book, hear the trumpets, 
although as we gaze bewildered on the vicissitudes of the 
struggle we may not comprehend every evolution or see 
the object and end of every movement, yet we are in no 
doubt at the end, when Satan's kingdom is " not found," and 
the followers of the Lamb occupy all the ground. All the 
details we cannot master, but our faith rejoices in this cer- 
tain result. 

And this revelation comes like the Gospels, and yet with 
a difference. Christ in person gives the Gospels, but it is 
in humiliation. He also gives the Revelation with its un- 
folding of the war he wages from his throne, but it is as 
the glorified and ascended Saviour and in vision to his 
servant, and it is a fitting close not only to the New Testa- 
ment, but to the entire Bible. Man begins in Genesis, in 
Eden. He is in communion with God. He has the tree of 
life. He is lord of all, under God. He is perfectly happy. 
Sin comes and makes fearful wreck. Is its sway to be per- 
manent ? Is its ruin to be repaired ? Let the answer come 
to us from the " Revelation of John the Divine." Here is 
the paradise of God again. Another and a better Eden 
blooms. Man is in it. Here is the tree of life. The taber- 
nacle of God is with men. All tears are wiped away. Sin 
is cast down ; its author is conquered, and over it, among 
a redeemed and glorified multitude, Jesus is enthroned 
victor, and God is all in all. 

He who candidly studies this New Testament must see 
that one pervading mind runs through it all. That mind 
is Christ's. It is the Testament of Jesus Christ. Whoever 
4 



38 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

preaches, reasons, persuades, or records his visions, Jesus 
Christ is the inspiring guide. 

His religion rests not on speculation or a system of rea- 
soning, but on definite, historical facts, proved, like other 
facts, by appropriate evidence. It is fitting that they should 
be placed in the foreground. So they are in the word. 
These facts touch human interests ; the statement of them 
in relation to men constitutes doctrine, and the doctrines, as 
they act on men's minds, make Christian experience. This 
experience is illustrated, unfolded and estimated in the suc- 
ceeding portions of Scripture. 

Men act on some such plan as this in their common 
affairs. Book-keeping rules are learnt or the maxims of 
law are studied in classes, but the proficient in either com- 
pletes his professional training by actual practice in the 
application of these rules. And such is the order in which 
the New Testament educates the Church of God, with its 
statement of great truths, and its ample delineation of the 
working out of these truths in the experience of the in- 
dividual, the formation of Christian churches, and the pro- 
phetic view of the whole community. 

Reserving for another lesson a more detailed view of 
the New Testament plan, we close this by commending to 
readers who desire to follow out this most interesting de- 
partment of study Bernard's Progress of Doctrine in the 
New Testament, than which few books more amply reward 
careful examination. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 39 

LESSOjY vl 

ORDER AND DESIGN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 
ROOKS. 

(continued.) 

Opening the New Testament, we find four Gospels, each 
occupied with the life and death of the same Person, and 
all four having much in common. A thoughtful person 
might ask, Why four ? might not one orderly and contin- 
uous narrative have been given us, embodying in their 
natural place the addresses and works of this divine Person? 
might we not have been saved, on this plan, from the need 
of " Harmonies of the Gospels," and from the labor of 
reconciling slight apparent disagreements? 

But there are objects of which one view is entirely incom- 
plete. A building, for example, is not fully represented to 
us by one picture. The architect will give us ground plan, 
front elevation, side elevation, and section of the edifice if 
our conception is to approach accuracy and completeness. 
Why may not this wonderful life of Christ, so important to 
us, so many-sided in itself, have required as many as four 
pictures of it from different points of observation in order 
to render it approximately complete to our minds ? And it 
must be admitted that these four writers seem bent on giv- 
ing us each a view of this life and nothing else. In how 
many uninspired biographies do the writers turn aside from 
the narrative to give their own impressions ! There are 
memoirs of notable persons that might almost be regarded 
as the opinions of the writers, with notices of the subject. 
How often one hurries over these opinions searching for the 
facts, and overleaping the reflections ! You never do this 
in the calm, colorless narratives of Matthew and his fellow- 
evangelists. They are nothing. Christ is everything. He 
does stupendous works. They are not seen in the attitude 



40 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

of wondering admiration or heard uttering their plaudits. 
Each work is reported, or each pithy reply is chronicled, and 
the writer hurries on to the next point to be presented in 
that busy, varied, marvelous life. " Tell us what hap- 
pened," one is tempted to say to many a voluble recorder, 
" not what you thought." One never says that in studying 
the evangelists. You are put as nearly as possible in the 
attitude of a hearer of those authoritative words, a spectator 
of those mighty deeds. And if there be apparent slight 
discrepancies, who shall say that there has not been a gain 
from them in the greater and closer scrutiny to which they 
have led? There is undoubted and positive gain in the 
proof they supply that there was no collusion, no writing 
for effect, and no other desire than to state facts as each 
had the means of knowing them. 

But there is adequate reason in the substance of the four 
Gospels for there being so many. Many of the early Chris- 
tians — a majority in the first century, probably — were of 
Jewish birth. Their minds were formed and their religious 
thought was moulded by the Old Testament. The stream 
of their feeling will run in the old channel and direction. 
The Gospel of Matthew meets and suits them. It follows 
the prophets in natural sequence. It shows the fulfillment 
of their words in Jesus, the Messiah descended from David 
and Abraham. Ch. LI. It reports the sermon on the 
mount and gives the New Testament interpretation to mis- 
conceived statements of the Old. It quotes the Old fre- 
quently. It breaks down prejudice, conciliates, instructs 
Jews who would " see Jesus." 

But a very important class of men joined the early 
Church who grew up as Romans, came to Palestine, and 
learned the truth. They were men of action, prompt, can- 
did, decided, like the centurion of the crucifixion, or Cor- 
nelius. They were important gains ; they represented 
much. John Mark, Barnabas' nephew, with (how given 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 41 

we know not) a Roman name, who was Peter's companion 
and animated by much of Peter's spirit, writes a Gospel for 
them. As Peter opened the door of faith to the Gentiles in 
his ministry, so does his friend and son in the faith (1 Pet. 
v. 13), Marcus, open it in a permanent written record. 
Terse in style, pithy, rapid in movement, picturesque in 
the details filled in, his brief Gospel has a business-like 
directness about it. It begins, with little introduction, with 
Christ's public career, and crowds into its pages those words 
and deeds which make him appear, what at length Pome 
recognized him to be, Lord of the visible and the invisible 
worlds. 

But the gospel is for the world, Jew and Gentile, and the 
life of Jesus is to be seen as in harmony with this grand 
design. Accordingly, Luke writes it. The companion of 
Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, an educated man, with 
the breadth of mind and tenderness of heart of a " beloved 
physician," he depicts the Saviour as one whom all the 
world may receive and trust, and who in orderly and pre- 
cise narrative is traced up as the " son of Adam, which was 
the son of God." 

And now the Church has three pictures of the world's 
Saviour : for a time these are enough. But by and by she 
comes in contact with modes of thought sometimes rever- 
ent, sometimes scoffing ; and new questions begin to be put : 
Who is this Redeemer ? Son of man ? Son of God ? Hu- 
man ? Divine ? Or is he both ? or is he neither ? Who is 
so fit to give information on these momentous topics as 
John, who writes with the calm sobriety of age, his life 
lengthened out for this purpose ? He leaned on the Mas- 
ter's bosom. He was his beloved friend. 

His Gospel begins with the "Logos" — "the Word made 
flesh" — and presents to us the amplest statements we have as 
to the dignity, the divinity, of our Lord and his unity with 
the Father. It ends with the avowal (ch. xx. 31), " These 



42 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, 
and that believing ye might have life through his name." 

Even such a hurried glance at the evangelists as this, 
serves to show the fitness and propriety of four Gospels, that 
each has a distinct function, and that each supplements the 
rest. Shall we be willing to part with Matthew, with his 
view of Jesus a lawgiver ; or with our view of the inde- 
fatigable worker, of Mark ; or of the friend of universal 
man, of Luke ; or that of the divine Revealer of the Father, 
the Son of God, in John ? 

This divine Teacher not only gives the world doctrines to 
be believed ; he founds a society by which the truth shall 
be held, illustrated and diffused. Who so fit to report the 
growth of that Christian society in which is "neither Jew 
nor Greek," as such, as Luke ? Hence the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, from the pen of Paul's companion, follow the "former 
treatise" (with "all that Jesus began to do and teach" till 
his ascension), with the continuation of what he did after 
he was taken up. For the book may be as fitly called the 
"Acts of Jesus Christ" as of the apostles. He is still here 
in action, meeting the twelve, sending the Spirit, working 
the miracles, sending Philip, turning Saul of Tarsus to him- 
self, and watching over his infant Church. Here we have 
the truth in its action on men — Hebrews, Romans, Grecians, 
philosophers, and barbarians. It is presented to them as 
men to be awakened, enlightened, evangelized. But if the 
Church is to continue with organic life, there will be aspects 
of Christian truth, not presented to them, yet really needed 
by the evangelized. Converts are to be built up. They too, 
having come under the influence of truth, will ask questions 
and require information. How good it would be if a man 
could be found to give it who had a Gentile connection and 
some familiarity with Gentile modes of thought and life ! 
Paul is just such a man. But he will suit Gentiles only? 
No. He is an Hebrew of the Hebrews, and fitted to ex- 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 43 

pound the significance of Hebrew rites and ceremonies. 
Has he not been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel ? Paul 
is with us as a worker in the Acts, but let us see him as a 
writer in the Epistles. 

Now Ave come to a new department— -namely, the training 
of the members of the Christian family. The method is 
appropriate. Familiar letters— not oracles, and not treatises 
— convey the lessons. Christian experience is to be guided. 
Christians are to be directed how to turn to account the 
positive truth : and when it is assailed by Judaism or by 
heathenism, they are furnished with the arguments with 
which the assault is to be repelled. 

Nor is Paul alone in this department. Corroborative 
testimony is given by Peter, James, and John — "pillars," as 
Paul calls them — and one of whom formally endorses Paul. 
2 Pet. iii. 15, 16. Seven churches are addressed in this way, 
representing, we may well believe, the various types of 
Christian life. The Epistle to the Romans follows naturally 
the Acts, in the close of which Paul is left teaching at Rome. 
It deals fully, like the letters to the Galatians and the Co- 
rinthians, with errors in doctrine and practice of which Chris- 
tians need to beware. Three other Epistles are marked, like 
John's Epistles, by their practical delineations of experi- 
mental godliness, those to the Philippians, Colossians and 
Ephesians. The church at Thessalonica is exercised about 
great coming events, and the letters to that church — the 
latest in time — are a fitting preparation for the book of 
Revelation. 

So we are carried intelligently into a new dispensation. 
Priest, altar, and sacrifice of the common kind have sunk 
together, and Christ is all in all. But is this new condition 
of things to be regarded as a censure on the things of the 
past, as if they had been useless or unmeaning ? 

By no means. There is the Epistle to the Hebrews, with 
its direct appeal to the Hebrew mind, its penetration into 



44 PREPARING TO 1EACH. 

the heart of things, its -firm grasp of the Old Testament 
facts, and its clear views of Old Testament principles. It 
shows how the New Testament Church is the intended, ex- 
pected development of the seed planted around the base of 
Sinai, but that, following the divinely-given light, God's 
saints have now come to " Mount Zion, and unto the city of 
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innu- 
merable company of angels ; to the general assembly and 
church of the first-born, which are w T ritten in heaven, and 
to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men 
made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new cove- 
nant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better 
things than that of Abel." Heb. xii. 22-24. 

But how is this organized body to be perpetuated, and 
with what method of arrangement and action ? It is not 
the great question, but it is an important question, and is 
not beneath the notice of Him w T ho is " not the author of 
confusion, but of peace as in all churches of the saints." 
1 Cor. xiv. 33. Hence we have the Epistles to Timothy 
and Titus, with directions for the kinds of officers, the 
qualities to be sought in candidates, the regard due to them, 
the nature of their functions and the results at which they 
are unitedly to arrive as the members of one living body 
filled and governed by one Holy Spirit. So — for we have 
already noticed the aim of the book of Revelation — this 
wonderful collection of treatises constitutes one organic 
whole, to conceive of w T hich being made up of a number 
of accidental contributions honestly or fraudulently put 
together by mere unaided men is as difficult to us as to 
conceive of a mass of molten metal running into a steam 
engine, or the colors of a paint-shop accidentally running 
on a canvas and producing "The Transfiguration" of 
Raphael. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 45 

LESSON VIL 
EULES OF INTERPRETATION. 

The Bible is written in Hebrew (with a little Chaldee) 
and Greek, the languages of the men through whom it was 
given, and for whom its several parts were, at the time when 
they were given, intended. These are now dead languages — 
that is, they are not now in use in the speech of man. 

This is a disadvantage, but it is difficult to see how it 
could be otherwise. To have placed among men a revela- 
tion in a modern language would have given no aid to them. 
Not understanding it, and not having any means of gaming 
a knowledge of its nature as we have of ancient documents, 
they would have had no motive for its preservation. As it 
is, the divine wisdom appears in bestowing a book which 
men understood and valued at the time, out of which their 
character and their institutions grew, and which as human 
speech changed made inquiry and research necessary, and 
so contributed in no small degree to the scholarship of the 
world. 

We have the means of determining the general sense of 
the Old Testament in the Greek translation made in the 
first half of the third century before Christ, at Alexandria, 
and in common use among the Greek-speaking Hebrews 
before our Lord's time. We have a corresponding aid to 
the understanding of its history in the works of Josephus. 
The New Testament being in Greek, in which Josephus 
and Philo wrote, and being accompanied and followed by 
many Greek writings, as those of the rabbis, the Greek 
classic authors and the early Greek-speaking Fathers, we 
have a rich abundance of what are called collateral means 
of understanding its peculiarities. 

If, therefore, defective translations of either Testament be 
put into circulation, the means exist for detecting and ex- 



46 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

posing the defects ; and instead of these means becoming 
fewer, they increase from age to age. Never, for example, 
were there so many checks upon any deception and so 
many appliances for discovering errors, if any exist, as 
at this moment, when in all civilized lands there are so 
many scholars, and in all the lands of antiquity there are 
so many travelers and explorers. The ancient Scriptures 
are like the pyramids of Egypt ; they are old, and some 
mystery shrouds their early history, but more persons know 
of them now, and more living persons have seen them, than 
at any former period of the world. A thousand years ago 
the removal of one of the pyramids would have excited 
little notice. Of such an event the world would now have 
notice in a few days. 

We need not feel, therefore, that we are material losers 
by our dependence on translations, to the right interpreta- 
tion of which the following rules apply. Those who make 
the translation are bound — as we are when we can consult 
the original — to ascertain the meaning of the words by dic- 
tionary, grammar, and the collation of contemporary or sim- 
ilar writers, and to learn the usage of speech at the time. 
And having faithfully done this, they stand exactly where 
the general reader stands who has in his hand a good trans- 
lation ; and they must apply the same rules of interpreta- 
tion. 

But having ascertained by the aids proper to the case 
the exact meaning of words, we are bound farther to con- 
sider the drift and aim of the writer and the sense in which 
he would employ terms. For example, the word "conver- 
sion " is used in one sense by the historian when he describes 
a change of religious faith, in another by the chemist when 
he describes, for example, the conversion of water into ice, 
in a third by the lawyer when he brings an action against 
a fraudulent officer, in a fourth by a logician when he de- 
scribes the putting of the subject in place of the predicate, 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 47 

and in yet a fifth by the theologian when he means a rad- 
ical change of heart. Now, a candid reader is clearly 
bound to consider the general aim of a writer when he 
finds ambiguous words ; and in the nature of the case many 
words must have a common and a religious sense. 

In addition to this general fact, it is not uncommon for a 
writer to have a usage of language peculiar to himself, not 
difficult to find out, and which we are bound to remember. 
In many acts of legislatures the uses of words are de- 
fined, because great minuteness and accuracy are required ; 
in some authors definitions are provided, as in mathematics, 
and we feel bound to interpret by them throughout. This 
is not usually done, in form, in ordinary treatises constructed 
as are the treatises composing the Scriptures, but it is often 
done, in fact, if we attend closely to what we read. For 
example, in Paul's letters such words as "flesh," "righteous- 
ness," u justification," are employed by him in a very dis- 
tinct sense ; and if he did not define them, it is because he 
and they to* whom he wrote both knew what he meant. 

It is obvious enough that sympathy with the aim and 
theme of the writers, and the capacity to put one's self in 
their place, is a help to understanding them. We should 
say so regarding any other form of compositions : and so 
regarding the Scriptures. Blackstone we expect to be best 
expounded by a lawyer, Adam Smith by a practical man 
of business, a poet by a man of poetical faculty. If it be 
said that on this plan we shall make a sense for ourselves, 
every eye seeing its own beauty, and every mind catching 
the echo of its own convictions, the reply is, No ; the check 
upon that tendency is furnished by the necessity laid on 
one, as mentioned already, to ascertain at the beginning, by 
ordinary helps and rules, the simple meaning of the lan- 
guage employed. For we are to go to the Bible, not to find 
in it what we desire or think, but what its writers meant to 
convey. Our sympathy with them aids us in catching that 



48 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

intention. A letter of your friend is being read by a 
stranger, who hesitates and stumbles over it. You take it 
in hand and read it through, not only because familiar with 
his hand, but with his turn of mind and the modes of ex- 
pression he is likely to adopt. 

In this connection it is a good rule to keep in mind that 
the Scripture writers do not aim at effect, are not ambitious 
of literary honor, and are marked, where history, instruc- 
tion, and w r arning are their themes, by great simplicity — 
simplicity which is not shallowness. In portions of the 
Scripture it is designed, indeed, that " dark sayings " should 
be uttered, retaining their obscurity till the events make 
them plain ; but the things we need to know for salvation 
are usually in plain and direct language. See as examples 
the Gospel of Mark, Christ's conversation with the woman 
of Samaria, the tenth chapter of John, the sermon on the 
mount, the Epistles of John, the sermons of Peter, the nar- 
ratives of Paul, and the accounts of the crucifixion. Take 
a good picture, and a child will see its meaning at a glance, 
for to tell its own story is surely the first requisite in any 
work of art, even of a ballad ; but the artist who has him- 
self painted, sees more in it than the child. And so the 
parable of the prodigal son carries its meaning — the mean- 
ing it has for him — to a schoolboy, while the theologian 
sees in it the materials for a volume. " The blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanseth from all sin" has been apprehended by the 
child and the unlearned with inexpressible gladness; and 
yet what depths of meaning it has revealed to the profound 
thinker, who sees in it the majesty of law, the boundlessness 
of love, the mystery of Deity, the needs of humanity, and 
the glory, at once, of divine grace and truth ! 

When types and symbols are employed in Scripture, it is 
a wise rule, before searching for the basis of them in out- 
side literature, to examine the Bible itself. Many of these 
in the prophetical books have their origin in the historical. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 49 

A vine out of Egypt in the Psalms (lxxx. 8) is best un- 
derstood in the light of the Pentateuch. The birth " of water 
and the Spirit," of John iii. 5, is intelligible in the light of 
Ezekiel xxxvi. 25-27. The picture of the paradise of God 
in Revelation is found in its elements in Genesis, and even 
the battle of Armageddon is stripped of some of its mys- 
tery when we know how the servants of Josiah carried their 
dead lord from the fatal field of Megiddo. 2 Ki. xxiii. 29. 

Our aim being to give simple directions for intellectually 
understanding this inspired book, we do not here advert to 
the absolute need of the Holy Ghost to a right spiritual and 
saving knowledge of it — a point not overlooked in other por- 
tions of this volume. Let it be the comfort of every reader 
to know that when the need of this illumination is owned 
before God he is more willing to give it than parents to 
give good gifts unto their children. Matt. vii. 11. 



LESSON VIII. 
HELPS TO INTERPRETATION. 

The Bible being an ancient book, given in another land 
and in a condition of society which, though singularly un- 
changing, is yet materially different from ours, it is obvious 
that we may expect in it allusions that are now obscure, 
and modes of speech different from our present forms of 
expression. The present chapter is introduced to point out 
available helps to overcoming their difficulties, and to en- 
courage readers to their use. 

The Old Testament was given to the Hebrews in a lan- 
guage they could understand, for it was conveyed through 
Hebrews. Those forms of expression which are distinctive 
of the language (every language has such) are known in 
books as " Hebraisms." The language of the Old Testa- 

5 



50 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ment was exceedingly familiar to the writers of the New ; 
and just as our sermons and prayers are greatly moulded in 
expression by the Scriptures, so the New Testament writers 
are influenced in a high degree by the phraseology of the 
Old Testament. Hence we find phrases in the New Testa- 
ment modeled, it is easy to see, on the language of the Old. 
To understand this fact will often save from misconception 
or ignorance. "Sons of Belial " (1 Sam. ii. 12), and in 
the New Testament "son of perdition'' (John xvii. 12), are 
illustrations. The word "Belial" in the Old Testament is 
not a personal name, as one might imagine from our Eng- 
lish translation, which here followed the Vulgate, but means 
worthlessness or wickedness. A son of Belial, therefore, is a 
worthless, wicked person, like Nabal (1 Sam. xxv. 17), just 
as in the New Testament a "son of peace" means a peace- 
able, candid person (Luke x. 6), and a " child of wrath " 
means one worthy of wrath, and " children of disobedience" 
are to be taken as disobedient persons. 

So double nouns, like "spirit of promise," do duty for 
adjectives and participles, and the name of Deity is em- 
ployed to describe the highest degree of excellence where 
the doubling of the word is not employed. "Goodly ce- 
dars" (Ps. lxxx. 10) are literally "cedars of God," as in 
the New Testament "weight of glory" means great glory. 
Boundabout phrases, such as "being called," "being found," 
are employed where we use parts of the verb " to be." 
Enoch was "not found" in Heb. xi. 5, and "was not" in 
Gen. v. 24. See Phil. ii. 8 and 1 John iii. 1. Gradations of 
feeling are not expressed in a language so simple as the He- 
brew, and hence stronger expressions are used than we 
should employ to describe simple preference, as, when our 
Lord requires his followers to hate their parents (Luke xiv. 
26), he plainly means that they should be loved less than 
himself, even as, in Mai. i. 2, 3, Esau is "hated" (Rom. ix. 
13) — that is, loved less than Jacob. 



EVIDENCES OE CHRISTIANITY. 51 

Positive language is also used in Hebrew where only per- 
missive action is intended, as in the apparent commission to 
the lying spirit in 1 Kings xxii. 22. The withholding of 
grace is all that is meant in making "the heart fat" (Isa. 
vi. 10) and in hardening Pharaoh's heart. 

It is to be borne in mind that in all lands in which more 
than one language is employed, or in records stretching 
over long periods which cover changes of language, various 
forms of the same name will appear, and persons will be 
described by different names. So Joshua of the Hebrew 
becomes Jesus in Greek (Heb. iv. 8)* both meaning Saviour. 
Hence the confusion as to Moses' father-in-law is in part 
removed, and hence we see in the New Testament Matthew 
and Levi applied to the first evangelist. The Sea of Gali- 
lee is also the Lake of Gennesareth ; Edom and Idumea are 
the same, as Horeb and Sinai were names given to a whole 
mountain of which each was a peak. Where double names 
were not employed, as with us, the recurrence of the same 
names must be frequent, especially when the official titles, 
as in so many instances, absorbed the personal name, as in 
the Pharaohs, Abimelechs, Agags, which corresponded to 
the "Csesars" of later Rome. 

As in our land the same name is often repeated to de- 
scribe places (as Washington, Springfield), so it is with 
Antioch, Csesarea, Bethlehem, Mizpah and other places. 

Plainly, a careful consideration of peculiarities of this na- 
ture is a help to the understanding of the word, which was 
natural in its style to those who wrote and received it. 

Some idea of their land is a help to understanding their 
Scriptures. Jerusalem has a crown of hills called moun- 
tains round about its own plateau, well representing the 
care of the Lord round about his people. In a hot climate 
the " shadow of a great rock " is easily understood. Where 
water is less abundant than with us, the digging of wells is 
a matter of great moment and their possession a cause of 



52 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

war. In such a land the dew is so needful to vegetation 
that it may well stand for God's blessing : " I will be as the 
dew upon Israel.' , ' When Lebanon with its cedars was so 
striking a natural object to the people, we need not wonder 
at allusions to it. Thunder and rain in wheat harvest are 
only wonderful to us (1 Sam. xii. 16, 17) when we know 
the kind of weather that prevailed at that time, just as a 
knowledge of rainless Egypt enables us to understand the 
startling effect of a grievous hail over all the land except 
Goshen. So in another department the eagle, the lion, the 
hind, the dove, the sheep, and in yet another the fig, the 
palm, the cedar, furnish illustrations. Some acquaintance, 
therefore, with the natural history of Palestine, such as nu- 
merous excellent books now furnish, is a help to under- 
standing the word. 

The names applied to other lands and nations by the He- 
brews ought to be understood, if we would not be involved 
in perplexity. The regions to be reached by water the 
Hebrews called "isles," and the continent of Europe and 
much of Asia were to them the " isles of the Gentiles.'' Yet 
while there was apparent inconsistency in their language, 
its peculiarities had a historical basis. Alexander the Great 
having overrun the East and made Greek power felt from 
his time onward, civilized peoples, not Jews, are called 
"Greeks," and "Greek and Jew" included the civilized 
world as distinguished from barbarian and Scythian. So 
Hebrews, who lived outside Palestine and spoke other than 
the Hebrew, are called Grecians. Asia is used in a narrow 
sense in the life of Paul, and this may easily confuse one 
who forgets it, but it will not seem strange to any one who 
remembers the freaks of language. One is often asked, for 
example, in California, when he came from " the States," 
as though California were not one of them. An old name 
lingers after it has lost its distinctive meaning. Occasion- 
ally a simple fact in the matter of place throws great light 



EVIDENCES OE CHR1STIANFTY. 53 

on an allusion or an incident. For example, the allusion 
to a "building fitly framed together" in Eph. ii. 21 is sin- 
gularly apposite in all the letter to those whose eyes must 
have often rested on the architectural grandeur of the Tem- 
ple of Diana at Ephesus. Sodom and Gomorrah are de- 
scribed to us in their crimes and ruin with great minuteness, 
not only because of Abraham and Lot having to do with 
them, but because they stood in the very midst of Canaan. 
With the monument of this signal judgment before them, 
Canaanites and Israelites forgot God and turned to idols. 

Geography and chronology have been called the two eyes 
of history, and nowhere is a little knowledge of dates more 
valuable than in understanding the Bible. It is quite com- 
mon to proceed on the assumption that the books are ranged 
in the order of time, whereas some of the Psalms are concur- 
rent with Samuel, and Ezra and Nehemiah, for example, come 
long after many of the prophets, such as Isaiah. The his- 
tory of the nations of the earth is receiving fresh illustra- 
tions every year from the explorations of travelers and the 
researches of scholars, and the results are being presented 
in forms so attractive as to leave us without excuse if we 
are ill informed on this general subject. That shepherds 
should be an abomination to the Egyptians, that Nineveh 
should be described as a city of three days' journey, that 
Tyre, Babylon and Idumea should be represented as so 
wealthy, that Egypt should furnish horses, that Athens 
should be described as wholly given to idolatry, that such 
details of the siege of Jerusalem as the trench cast about 
the city should find a place in our Lord's prophetic word, — 
these and many like circumstances in the word are no sur- 
prise, to any who has considerable knowledge of the history 
of nations contemporary with the Hebrews. 

Of the value, to an interpreter of the word, of knowing 
the customs of the ancient races, one has not need to speak. 
The Scripture is full of life-like pictures. We see the men 

5* 



54 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

on the housetop ; we find the Saviour sitting by the well's 
mouth, or we follow him to the new tomb hewn out of the 
rock ; we picture to ourselves his seamless robe ; we seem 
to see the phylacteries of the Pharisees and the sandals of 
the disciples; the "women grinding at the mill" make a 
picture to the mind's eye as vivid and distinct as the " ox 
treading out the corn." 

Now, it may be said, "Why should a knowledge of all 
this be needed to a full understanding of the word ?" Let 
it be remembered that knowledge of such subjects is eagerly 
pursued and highly valued for its own sake. We ought to 
be thankful for the stimulus to the acquisition and diffusion 
of knowledge supplied to men by inquiries of this kind. 
But be it remembered that these things, to understand 
which we must take some pains, are among the evidences 
of the divine origin of the Scriptures. The water-mark in 
a forged letter has been unnoticed by the forger, and be- 
come the means of his detection. To how many circum- 
stances does the Bible commit itself, if it were a forgery, 
every one of them being a means of detection and exposure, 
in geography, in history, in genealogy, in manners and 
customs ! 

But why should we complain of the need of these helps? 
Take a schoolboy's Virgil or Sallust and examine it. 
What an apparatus of notes explanatory of construction, 
history, mythology, current beliefs, and contemporary events, 
it needs ! and before he can begin to use it, he must have 
mastered the elements of his Latin grammar, and must, be- 
sides, use his lexicon. But we have this volume " in our 
own tongue wherein we were born," with its blessed and 
glorious revelations of life in Christ now and life eternal 
beyond the grave. Let us be grateful for it, and gladly 
avail ourselves of all the facilities afforded us for obtaining 
a knowledge of its meaning, that w r e may be wise unto sal- 
vation. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 55 

LESSON IX. 
TYPES AND SYMBOLS. 

It is obvious to any reader of the Bible that much of it 
departs from the common and matter-of-fact style, and that 
to reach the meaning of such parts we must look beneath 
the surface. In ordinary animated writings we are not sur- 
prised by the use of figures. We expect them because they 
add strength and beauty to expression. When, in 1814, 
Daniel Webster said, " Unclench the iron grasp of your 
embargo," his meaning was plain enough, and a few words 
express it figuratively with far more force than if he had 
uttered it in ordinary terms. He employed more than one 
comparison. Embargo was like a hand — an iron hand — 
an iron hand clenched. We have a great profusion of 
such eloquent figures in the Scriptures. Can anything be 
finer than " the Lord rideth upon the swift cloud " (Isa. xix. 
1), "his chariots shall be as a whirlwind" (Jer. iv. 13), 
" the name of the Lord is a strong tower " (Prov. xviii. 10), 
or more expressive than likening the brief noisy mirth of 
fools to the crackling of thorns under a pot ? Eccles. vii. 6. 

But there is a mode of expression throughout Scripture 
essentially different from the merely figurative, and in which 
the whole object presented, no matter in what kind of lan- 
guage, is intended to carry the mind beyond the ideas 
presented in the first instance. The image may be real, 
like the paschal lamb or the brazen serpent, or it may be 
ideal, like the living creatures of Revelation (iv. 8) with 
six wings, but in both cases the reader looks beyond the 
image to something of which it is the shadow. The general 
terms for these portions of the divine word are types and 
symbols, between which, for practical purposes, there is no 
distinction. 

Why should these be employed in a revelation from God ? 



56 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Because, in the first place, the human mind has a certain 
poetic element in it to which such a mode of representation 
appeals. Strong feeling, especially when it is sympathetic, 
flows naturally into the poetic form. Battle songs and 
patriotic songs are illustrations. It is easy to see for how 
much, for example, such a symbol as the " Star-spangled 
Banner" stands, ami how natural is the language of poetry 
in connection with it. The Eastern mind carries out the 
comparison to great lengths in a way not common among 
less imaginative nations, though not without parallel, as in 
the allegory of the " Pilgrim's Progress " or the story of 
" Mansoul." 

In the second place, it is the object of that portion of 
Scripture in which types and symbols are especially found 
to present truths in outline more or less dim, as the distant 
objects before a traveler's eye only acquire clearness and 
distinctness as they are immediately approached. There is 
perspective in the pictures of the Bible, as in the objects of 
nature to the eye, and in all true imitative representations. 
All the true objects of prophecy are served on this plan, 
and evils inevitable to explicit delineation of the future are 
avoided. A traveler descending the Italian side of the 
Alps sees the smoke and general outline of the town w T here 
he is to rest, not the gates or the name of the street, or the 
place at which he is to stop. But he sees these when he 
comes to the place and as soon as the knowledge is practical. 
So it is, so far, with the purposes of prophecy. That a de- 
liverer should come, for example, was clear from the begin- 
ning. The details of his work are made to stand out clearly 
as men drew 7 near the time. 

In the third place, the mode of giving divine revelation — 
namely, by visions — rendered the use of object-teaching — 
that is, of types and symbols — inevitable. Before the mind's 
eye the embodied truths to be declared passed in review, the 
prophet's function being to describe what he saw in vision. 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, 57 

As a help to the interpretation of types and symbols we 
shall mention some of their characteristics. 1. They are 
suggested by something in the circumstances in which they 
are employed. Hence they have a naturalness in their 
original connection, and on this very account a certain fit- 
ness which we fail to see until we have placed ourselves in 
some degree in the circumstances, The first type of Scrip- 
ture is an example. In the form of a serpent Satan tempted 
Eve. The word of God, "it shall bruise thy head, and 
thou shalt bruise his heel " (Gen. iii. 15), has obvious fitness 
and propriety when uttered to the tempter in the serpent 
form and in the presence of the wife of Adam. So the 
wants of Israel made manna needful, and the serpents that 
bit the people suggest the serpent of brass to which they 
are to look for healing. Out of both grow symbols, the full 
meaning and significance of which we have in the New Tes- 
tament. The same is true of the smitten rock. It is con- 
ceivable that the Lord could have provided supplies for the 
people in other ways, but these are chosen, no doubt, that 
they might be in Israel and among all men to the end of 
time, object-lessons for God's children, Why should this 
seem to us like cumbrous preparation for the future ? Fu- 
ture is a relative term to us. There is no future to Him 
who fills all time, Men count it a proof of divine fore- 
thought that coal should be prepared and laid up in the 
earth for a race far in the distance. But the material is 
mainly for the sake of the moral and spiritual; and we 
should not w 7 onder that the divine Teacher shapes the expe- 
riences of the Church in her infancy so as to render them 
profitable studies and memories for all her life. 

2. Our authority for finding types in persons or in acts 
must be the Scripture itself. An ingenious fancy may 
easily discover remarkable resemblances between remote 
events, as in the history of Joseph and that of Jesus Christ; 
but we can only build upon any such correspondence as 



58 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

typical when it is so declared in Scripture. . The resem- 
blance we discover may be eminently suggestive and useful 
as an illustration of truth ; but when we call anything a 
scriptural type, we assume its being so intended by Him 
who gave the holy oracles, and we can only know his inten- 
tions by his declarations. 

Nor must we strain a typical element in a man, an ob- 
ject, or an event beyond the use made of it in Scripture. 
The first Adam, for example, stands over against Jesus in 
that the one is the head of the natural, and the other of the 
spiritual, family (1 Cor. xv. 22) ; but it would be obviously 
violent and unauthorized to draw the parallel between them 
as to moral character, or even nature. 

Melchizedek, the object of so much speculation, had a 
natural fitness for typifying the royal priest, Jesus Christ. 
Ps. ex. 4. We should not have been warranted in inferring 
from Abraham's paying tithes to him the superiority of 
Christ's priesthood to Aaron's, if the apostle Paul, writing 
to a race who could appreciate such considerations (Heb. 
vii. 2), had not given authority. When the apostle to the 
Galatians (iv. 22) says that the early notices of Abraham's 
two sons are "an allegory,'' it is not meant that they are 
imagined or figured, as in a parable, for the sake of a moral 
truth, but that they have a sacred and deeper meaning, 
u which things are allegorized." When one considers the 
number and variety of the typical objects in the Old Testa- 
ment, and remembers that they find their antitypes in the 
New, and that they who bore a share in the preparing of 
them, acting of their own motive, were ignorant of what 
was to come after, we have a singular demonstration of the 
unity and of the divine origin of the Scriptures, of ex- 
actly the same nature as is presented by prophecy and its 
fulfillment. It would be much easier to believe that corn 
was made or that the coal which serves so many and varied 
purposes was stored away without any regard to man than 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 59 

to believe that the whole Jewish system was formed without 
regard to Jesus and his kingdom. 

3. Where the prophets are directed to speak by types and 
symbols and similitudes (Hos. xii. 10), we may usually lock 
for some correspondence between them and the circum- 
stances of the messengers whom God employs, or of those 
to whom the message is delivered. To David, who had 
been a shepherd, and by no means a rich one (1 Sam. xvii. 
28), Nathan's parable of the one ewe lamb had a point 
which we can easily appreciate. What is true of parables, 
and in an eminent degree of our Lord's, is applicable to the 
sustained symbols of the prophets. Ezekiel is a priest (i. 
3) and in captivity. How many patriotic memories and 
dreams he must have had regarding the temple at Jerusa- 
lem ! He reports the glorious future of the truth by the 
prolonged symbolism of a reconstructed yet ideal temple 
with healing waters flowing from its threshold. See Ezek. 
xl.-xlvii., and xlvii. 9. On the other hand, Daniel w T as 
of royal family (i. 3), and all his life in courts, and his pre- 
dictions are thrown into the form of successive monarchies. 
So Haggai, intent on the rebuilding of the temple, makes . 
the enterprise of Zerubbabel to foreshadow the triumphs of 
Messiah, even as Zechariah sees in Joshua and Zerubbabel 
the "priest upon his throne" and the covenant of peace out 
of which comes salvation to the true Israel. 

4. A certain unity runs through the types of the Bible 
which, once perceived, puts away the unsatisfactory look of 
vagueness and arbitrariness which, it is to be feared, they 
w 7 ear to many, and w 7 hich is extremely discouraging to an 
inquirer. The best way in which to get rid of this look of 
vagueness and arbitrariness is to study them. You enter a 
watchmaker's while he is pursuing his work. On his board 
you see a confused little heap, in apparent disorder, of 
springs, brass wheels, circular boxes, and perforated plates. 
To your eye they are chaotic. His sees the place and use 



60 PREPARING TO TEACH, 

and fitness of every one of them. It is so with these types 
to the trained student of God's word. 

Take as an example the serpent of the temptation, in 
Genesis iii. 1. In Isaiah the prosperous times of Messiah's 
reign are predicted, and the serpent has no power to hurt : 
" The child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned 
child on the cockatrice' den." Isa. i. 8, 9. Dust was to be the 
loathsome diet of the serpent in Gen. iii. 14 ; and in Isa. lxv. 
25, when the lion eats straw like the bullock, " dust shall 
be the serpent's meat." Is it possible to forget in the allu- 
sion of the second text the threat of the first ? Now look 
to the close of the New Testament, and in Rev. xx. 2, 3, we 
have the " old serpent cast out," his power brought to an 
end, his head bruised. 

Take another case from the symbol of fire. When Abra- 
ham was taken into covenant with God (Gen. xv. 17), a 
"smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between 
the pieces." When Moses received his commission (Ex. iii. 
2) from a present God, behold, the bush to which he may 
not come too near " burned with fire." The Lord descended 
upon Mount Sinai "in fire." Ex. xix. 18. Iu the pillar of 
cloud and fire the Lord led the people. It stood over the 
tabernacle. Num. ix. 16. Fire from the Lord consumed 
Nadab and Abihu. Lev. x. 2. This great fire the Hebrews 
feared to look on. Deut. xviii. 16. Fire rose out of the 
rock and consumed Manoah's sacrifice (Jud. vi. 21), as it 
did Elijah's. 1 Kings xviii. 38. "Afire enfolding itself" 
appeared to Ezekiel. i. 4. The Messiah baptizes with the 
Holy Ghost and with fire. Matt. iii. 11. On the disciples 
at Pentecost rest " cloven tongues as of fire " (Acts ii. 3) ; 
and in Heb. xii. 19 "our God is a consuming fire." How 
is it possible to miss the continuity of this symbol of the 
searching, purifying, enlightening and, when need is, con- 
suming presence and power of the Almighty? 

It would not be difficult to add to these examples did our 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 61 

space permit. One can see how much authority there is, if 
not for constructing a dictionary of types, at least for ap- 
proximately estimating their meaning. 

" As an example of the way in which an alphabet of the 
apocalypse might be made out, w T e may instance a few of its 
more important symbols. Earth symbolizes society in a 
settled state ; sea, society in a state of convulsion ; rivers, 
nations ; a flood, nations in motion ; mountains and islands, 
great and small kingdoms ; air, the political atmosphere ; 
heaven, the civil or ecclesiastical firmament; lord, the mon- 
arch ; slaves, inferior rulers ; hail and thunder, wars ; earth- 
quake, revolution ; head, form of government ; horse, king 
or kingdom ; bow, war ; crown, victory ; altar, martyrdom ; 
coals, severe judgment ; vine, a church ; wilderness, a state 
of affliction; rainbow, a covenant; key, ecclesiastical au- 
thority; angel, a minister of God's purposes. Having 
determined the import of the individual symbols, it becomes 
easy to interpret them when found in combination. " We 
do not present the foregoing as certainly determined, but as 
showing the general principle on which types and symbols 
can be classified and defined. 



LESSON X. 



DIFFICULTIES IN SCULPTURE, AND HOW TO DEAL 
WITH THEM. 

Suppose a mechanic to be required to construct a cylin- 
der printing-press, or an optician a microscope which should 
serve the highest purposes of such complicated and delicate 
instruments, and at the same time be perfectly obvious and 
without difficulties to a child. Suppose a political econo- 
mist directed to prepare a book which should deal with all 

the intricacies of trade, commerce and currency, which 
6 



62 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

should suit all the purposes of this nation, and yet be level 
to the capacity of all the school-children in the United 
States. Suppose Sir Isaac Newton had been required to 
put his " Principia " into such a form that while all future 
students in astronomical science should find it an invalu- 
able help, yet the lowest intellect could at once see through 
its demonstrations. Surely the engineer, optician, econo- 
mist and mathematican might, with good reason, reply, You 
require what is impossible in the nature of the case. Our 
work, if it is to be of any use to the more advanced, can- 
not but present some difficulties which the less advanced 
must labor to overcome. 

All candid persons would feel the force of such replies 
when the communication is between man and man. Now, 
there ought to be equal candor in judging when it is be- 
tween God and man. The infinite Father of lights is to 
give man a book-revelation that is to suit all lands, all 
times, all orders of intellect. It would be unreasonable to 
insist that it should be so constituted as to make no demand 
on the study, care and candor of its readers, especially w T hen 
it is itself a part of a moral discipline by which moral 
agents are being trained for immortal life and perfect 
virtue. 

To offer some suggestions regarding the difficulties of 
Scripture rather than to make any formal and detailed 
statement of them is the design of this chapter. They 
arise mainly (a) from the nature and subjects of revela- 
tion itself, (6) from the manner in which the revelation is 
given in a book, and (c) from the contingencies to which it 
has pleased God the book should be exposed. To require 
that there should be no difficulties in the substance of a 
revelation to man is to require some essential alteration of 
the relations of God and man, and would be as unreason- 
able as to demand that the conduct and commands of a 
parent should always be without difficulties to his infant 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 63 

child. To require that there should be no difficulties in a 
divine book is as unreasonable as to require that there 
should be no study needed to master the laws of chemistry, 
mineralogy, language or any divine work. And to demand 
that, the book being in the world, the Lord should keep it 
from the ordinary accidents to which copying, translating 
and printing expose any book, is to demand a constant 
series of miracles that would relieve man of a responsibil- 
ity which it is best for him to realize. No one, therefore, 
has any right to feel that the very existence of difficulties 
is a presumption against the Revelation. The presumption 
is all the other way. It would be hard to show that a work 
every part of which was on the level of the lowest human 
intellect without effort on its part had a superhuman origin. 

I. There are difficulties in doctrine where it is conceded 
that the meaning of the language is understood, but the 
ideas conveyed are supposed incredible. That there are 
three persons in the Godhead ; that man is depraved ; that 
man is not saved by any works of his own, yet that he is 
to abound in good works ; that he must be born again ; that 
the ruin of the lost, is eternal ; that the Lord has often 
-worked miracles; and other doctrines are of this class. 
They are commonly dealt with in books on doctrine and in 
systems of theology. Two things have to be borne in mind 
in connection with them : 

(a) Facts may be stated and believed where the manner 
of the facts is hidden. We see in the baptism of the Lord 
Jesus the fact of three divine persons in the mystery of 
Godhead, the Father speaking, the Spirit descending on the 
beloved Son. But how the three co-exist in one God we 
do not pretend to know. Nor is our ignorance of the mode 
a barrier to our belief of the fact any more than our ignor- 
ance of the mode in which our human spirits and our hu- 
man bodies co-exist prevents us believing the fact. How 
disembodied spirits live, how a divine spirit acts on matter, 



64 PREPARING TO TEACIL 

how God is everlasting, how resurrection is to be effected, 
we know not, and have no hope of knowing, at least here, 
but in the facts we do not hesitate to believe. A child can- 
not explain an eclipse of the sun, but he can believe it, for 
he sees it. 

(b) A statement or an alleged fact may be above reason, 
and yet not contrary to it, just as truly as the pigeons and 
sparrows can fly down the avenue without collision with the 
carriages or the passengers moving upward. 

That Jesus should call Lazarus' spirit back to his body 
after death is above any reason. To say it is contrary to it 
is to say that my reason has gone into that region either by 
observation or experience, and knows all the facts. It has 
not done so ; it knows nothing about it but as it is in- 
structed. We have observed how certain created powers, 
even, for example, how death commonly works. To see 
death conquered and the dead live again, therefore, sur- 
prises us. Hence miracles are " wonders." But we have 
not seen how infinite power works in the unseen world, and 
therefore have no settled knowledge on the subject. 

II. The book being in our hands, difficulties may occur 
to us from many causes, of which the reason lies in the na- 
ture of the book. Of these a few may be mentioned as 
illustrations. 

(a) The same series of facts being the subject of several 
writers with distinct objects, one may give what another 
leaves out, and the omission may seem to be contradiction, 
but it is so only in appearance. The design of the writer 
determines the selection of his facts, as in the books of 
Samuel and Chronicles and in the Gospels. This class of 
difficulties has been fully dealt with in various works com- 
monly known as "Harmonies." While, as in all similar 
works, there are diverse solutions, that any solution can be 
given is a sufficient defence of a treatise otherwise bearing 
marks of veracity, as in the genealogies of our Lord, where 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 65 

one evangelist traces the line through the real mother, an- 
other through the legal father, the one writing for Jews and 
the other for Gentiles. 

The same principle applies to the seeming discrepancy- 
bet ween Paul and James regarding justification. Paul is 
dealing with the tendency of the natural heart to make 
every man his own Saviour; James is dealing with the 
abuses of grace, who "said I am saved by faith and 
may live as I please." They have been compared to two 
friends attacked before and behind, and who for defence 
turn " back to back," one to parry the blows of self-right- 
eousness, the other of licentiousness. This surely is a very 
different thing from contention between themselves or strik- 
ing at one another. You are to be saved, says Paul, by 
faith alone ; but, adds James, the faith which is alone and 
without good works is not faith of the living, saving kind. 
An almost parallel case is found in the apparently opposite 
directions for answering a fool in Pro v. xxvi. 4 and 5. Two 
kinds of " fools " are contemplated. 

(b) Difficulties arise from inaccurate construction of the 
words, as in Judg. i. 19, where Voltaire found matter for 
scoffing in the supposed inability of the Lord to drive out the 
inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron. 
He did not see that Judah, and not the Lord, is the ante- 
cedent to " he," and that the real trouble lay in the defect- 
ive faith of Judah, not in the defensive power of the Al- 
mighty. So obvious is this now that later commentators 
never notice the original objection, but lay out their strength 
on the terrible scythe-chariots, adapted to valley warfare, 
and which appear too formidable to the Hebrews to admit 
of assault. 

(c) Difficulties may arise from ignorance of usages of 
languages, as when, in Acts i. 18, Judas is said to have 
bought a field which Matt, xxvii. 7 says the chief priests 
bought. It was with the ill-earned money of Judas the 

6* 



66 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

purchase was made. Men are said to do that of which they 
are the cause, as Jesus baptized by his disciples, or the oc- 
casion, or which they claim to do, as the magicians are said 
to have made blood (Ex. vii. 22) with their enchantments 
— that is, they claimed and appeared to do it. 

III. Difficulties are produced by undoubted errors in 
transcription in a way that is easily understood. Many of 
these errors are now rectified by collation of manuscripts 
and of kindred passages ; and the number of ambiguous 
portions is now not only small relatively to the whole vol- 
ume, but there is not one of them involving any article of 
faith, so that it would be put in doubt by the discrediting 
of the passage. The chief of these supposed errors are in 
the matter of numbers. The very earliest Hebrews, it is al- 
leged, employed sign-letters, as we do figures and Roman 
letters, for numbers ; and where letters were nearly alike in 
form or their significance w T as varied by points, it is easy to 
see how errors could occur in course of transcription; These 
errors are mostly in the earlier books of the Bible ; and as 
a general rule, the numbers are exaggerated. The slain at 
Beth-shemesh, for example (in 1 Sam. vi. 19), are made to 
be fifty thousand and seventy. In the Arabic and Syriac 
the number is five thousand and seventy. Several manu- 
scripts support Josephus in reading this seventy and omit- 
ting the thousands ; and considering that this was a country 
village, it is the more likely number. Sometimes a sacred 
writer speaks in round numbers, while another is exact in 
the reckoning, as in the case of the wandering and enslave- 
ment of the Israelites for four hundred or four hundred and 
thirty years. Sometimes numbers are given inclusively, as 
we do, and sometimes exclusively. An event may be on 
the eighth day from this inclusively ; but excluding this day 
and the day on which it occurs, it will be only six days 
from this day. We find a variation in the Gospels of this 
nature. In Matt. xvii. 1 we find " after six days." So it 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 67 

is in Mark ix. 2, but Luke (ix. 28) reads "about an eight 
days after." Such seeming discrepancies as these are usually 
explained in ordinary books, and in such a way as to leave 
no discomfort in candid minds. 

There is little use in recommending books on the subject 
of these difficulties. Those which one finds discussed in 
older text-books, like "Home's Introduction," are rarely 
urged now. He devotes a section to alleged Bible contra- 
dictions to morality. Most infidel writers now admit and 
magnify the morality, but deny the miraculous element, of 
the Scripture. The difficulties that lie outside the classes 
we have enumerated are usually only difficulties to ignor- 
ance, and the power to deal with them is acquired by 
devout study of the word as a whole. 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 



I. SACKED PLACES. 
II. SACRED PERSONS. 

III. SACRED RITES. 

IV. SACRED TIMES. 



BY THE 

EEV. EDWARD P. HUMPHREY, D.D., LL.D. 




The Tabernacle, with its Coverings mostly removed. 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 



LESSON I. 
THE CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES DISTRIBUTED. 

They naturally divide themselves into four particulars : 
I. Sacred Places. II. Sacred Persons. III. Sacred Rites. 
IV. Sacred Times. 

Their Historical Origin.— The altar was the basis of 
the sacred places, the priesthood was the basis of the sacred 
persons, the burnt-offering was the basis of the sacred rites, 
and the Sabbath was the basis of the sacred times. Here 
we discover the links that connect the ceremonial laws 
given by Moses with the primeval ordinances of religion. 

In the altar set up in the family of Adam we have the 
genesis of the tabernacle and temple. At the beginning 
the minister of sacrifice was the patriarch of the existing 
family, and his sacred office passed over to the Mosaic 
priesthood. In the offering of blood by Abel and the 
offering by fire of Noah we discover the germs of the 
Jewish ritual. The Sabbath ordained in paradise became 
the central institute in the sacred times appointed by Moses. 
These facts show — (1.) That the religious institutes of the 
Hebrews had their roots in the ordinances which God gave 
to the human race in the primeval age ; (2.) The organic 
unity of the Pentateuch considered as a history ; (3.) The 
position of the book of Genesis as an introduction to the 
laws given from Sinai ; (4.) The gradual development of 
the Church and its ordinances of worship from the begin- 

71 



72 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ning; (5.) The ceremonial law was not wholly a new thing 
to the children of Israel. They learned from the book of 
Genesis that God was proposing no principles regulating 
divine worship which were not laid in the early history of 
redemption ; (6.) Atonement for sin by the shedding of 
blood, which was taught at the altars of both Cain and 
Abel, was the predominant idea in every section of the 
ceremonial law. 

Sacred Places. 

Designations. — The place of worship was — (1.) The 
Tabernacle, from the giving of the law until about the 
tenth year of Solomon's reign — five hundred years; (2.) 
Solomon's temple, until the Babylonish captivity — about 
four hundred and seventeen years ; (3.) ZerubbabePs tem- 
ple, built after the return from the captivity (about B. C. 
520). This stood till it was removed or rebuilt by Herod 
(B. C. 8), or about five hundred and twelve years. (4.) 
Herod's Temple, from about 8 B. C, or till the destruction 
of Jerusalem by Titus, A. D. 70, or seventy-eight years. 

SECTION I. 

THE TABERNACLE. 

1. The Plan and Specifications, down to the minutest 
particular, even the hooks and pins and shovels and snuff- 
ers, were prescribed by God himself, and are preserved in 
chapters xxxvi. to xxxix. of Exodus. Next, God gave to 
Moses in the mount a pattern of the house and its furniture. 
Ex. xxv. 9 ; xxvi. 30 ; Heb. viii. 5. This was probably 
an ideal pattern only, such as an architect forms in his 
own mind of a building to be erected. When the house 
was finished, Moses examined it thoroughly to see if it was 
exactly conformed to God's command. Ex. xxxix. 33-43. 

2. The Architects were appointed and taught to ex- 
ecute the divine plan and specifications. God called by 



West End. 7J-ft. JO pillars 



13^ft. 



§ 



3 

5L 



In 



*•! ! D 



doors. 

lo-c-o-o-o 1 



o 

Zaver 
Attctr of 



Brnnt Offering. 



ZZ 7 Aft>. 



gate 
30 -ft. 



22 7 Aft. 



Ground Plan of the Court of the Tabernacle 



Page 73, 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 73 

name to this service Bezaleel and Aholiab, and endowed 
them with supernatural gifts in architecture and the orna- 
mental and curious arts. Ex. xxxi. 1-11; xxxv. 30-35; 
xxxvi. 1, 2. The gift of God's Spirit qualified these men 
simply for the work of rearing and furnishing the taber- 
nacle. It was not an inspiration for any other purpose, nor 
did it necessarily convey to them personal holiness. 

The lessons taught here are — (1.) The extraordinary care 
which God took to secure a suitable place of worship, free 
from incongruities and wholly unlike the idol temples of 
Egypt ; (2.) The supreme skill w T hich appeared in the 
ornamental work about the tabernacle and its furniture 
and the sacred vestments of the priests is to be referred to 
the supernatural endowments of the artists. The rough, 
coarse work of Egypt in brick and mortar had disqualified 
the people for the curious arts of jewelry and embroidery 
and carving, which w T ere now called into requisition. 

The materials were derived from — (1.) The atonement 
money of half a shekel levied on all the males that left 
Egypt (Ex. xxx. 12-15) ; (2.) The voluntary contributions 
of the people. Ex. xxxv. 4, seq. These riches became so 
embarrassing to Moses that he issued an order " restraining 
the people from bringing." Ex. xxxvi. 6. The house when 
finished was loaded down with gold and silver and pre- 
cious stones ; it was not loaded down with debt. (3.) When 
the people left Egypt, they took spoils from their task-mas- 
ters, "jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and raiment." 
Ex. xii. 35. The value of the house and furniture has 
been estimated at §1,500,000. 

The Structure of the Tabernacle. 

The relation of the tabernacle proper to the " court of 
the tabernacle," by which it was surrounded, will be under- 
stood by a reference to the engraving of the ground plan of 
the tabernacle and its courts. Fo a description of the fence 



74 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

of curtains which formed the enclosure, with its supports, 
see Exodus xxvii. 9-18. 

The Tabernacle, in its structure, is illustrated by the 
engraving given at a preceding page, in which the coverings 
are represented as almost entirely removed. The description 
is given in Exodus. 1. Base course of silver sockets. Ex. xxvi. 
19. 2. Boards of shittim-wood standing upright, xxvi. 15-19. 
3. Rings inserted in the boards and rods or bars running 
through the rings, xxvi. 26-29. Five pillars stood at the 
entrance, xxvi. 37. The under curtain was of fine linen 
(xxvi. 1-6), the next of goats' hair (v. 7 and 9), the next 
of rams' skin (v. 14), and the outer covering was of badgers' 
skin. v. 14. 

Furniture of the Tabernacle. 

1. In the fore court. The brazen altar for burnt-offering. 
Ex. xxvii. 1-8. The laver of brass. Ex. xxx. 18. 

2. In the holy place. Golden altar of incense. Ex. xxx. 
1-10. Table of show-bread. Ex. xxv. 23, sq. Golden 
candlestick. Ex. xxv. 31, sq. 

3. In the most holy place. Ark of the covenant, its 
golden lid the mercy-seat ; above that the cherubim (Ex. 
xxv. 10, sq. ; Ex. xxxvii. 1-9) ; between the cherubim the 
Sheklnah or dwelling-place of Jehovah. Ex. xxv. 18-22 ; 
xxxvii. 6-9. Within the ark of the covenant were de- 
posited the two tables of the law, a pot of manna, Aaron's 
rod that budded and the book of the law. Ex. xvi. 33-34 ; 
xxv. 16; Num. xvii. 10; Deut. xxxi. 26; Heb. ix. 4. 

The Tabernacle as a Whole. 

1. It was a tent in the midst of the tents of Israel while 
they dwelt in the wilderness. That was the fundamental 
idea of the structure, and controlled in part its size, shape 
and position in the encampments and marches. 

2. It was portable. The curtains could be easily removed 





The Brazen Altar. For Burnt Offerings. 



The Golden Candlestick. 




^.wvWtX.^ 



The Altar of Incense and a Roman Altar. 



The Table of Shew Bread. 



FURNITURE OF THE TABERNACLE. 



Page 74. 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 75 

and folded up, the planks taken down ; and the articles of 
furniture were supplied with rings and staves by which 
they could be borne along in the marches. In the first 
four chapters of Numbers we have the distribution of the 
twelve tribes about the tabernacle when in camp ; the mode 
of taking it down and setting it up ; the method in which 
the various parts of the building, the curtain and furniture 
were carried by the Levites ; and the order in which the 
tribes moved in the journeys. 

3. It was a small, narrow building, about forty-five feet 
long and thirteen and a half feet wide. It was hardly large 
enough to give standing-room for a hundred men, yet it 
was the only place of public worship for the twelve tribes 
of Israel, numbering not less than three millions. This 
smallness is explained by the fact — 

4. That it was intended for worship by representation. 
Sacrifice was offered, not by the people in a mass, but for 
the people by the ministry of a few men representing all 
Israel. 

5. The edifice and its appointments were exceedingly 
beautiful. The material glory of the house shined forth 
from the profusion of gold and embroidery and cunning 
work. It was a tent and a sanctuary or habitation fit for 
God. 

Immediate Uses of the House. 

1. It was a tent for Jehovah. Just as a commander-in- 
chief of an army in the field has a tent for his headquarters, 
so Jehovah, who was the "leader and commander of the 
people/' ordered a tent to be prepared for himself. His 
throne-room was the most holy place, and the exact situa- 
tion of the throne was the mercy-seat. " Thou that dwell- 
est between the cherubims, shine forth/' Ps. lxxx. 1. 

2. The place of the oracles. God spake first to Moses 
on Mount Sinai. When the tabernacle was finished and 
dedicated, the pillar of cloud and of fire came down from 



76 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

the mount and stood over the most holy place. Ex. xl. 34. 
God spake to Moses out of " the tabernacle of the congrega- 
tion" and delivered to him the Levitical law. Lev. i. 1. See 
also Num. xii. 4 ; Ex. xxv. 22. 

3. A meeting-place. Jehovah met with his servants in the 
sanctuary. The phrase "tabernacle of the congregation" 
means simply the tent of meeting — i. e., the tent where God 
meets with his people. Ex. xxix. 42, 43. 

4. The house took the name "tabernacle of witness" or 
testimony (Num. xvii. 7 ; Acts vii. 44) from the fact that 
the ark of the covenant, standing in the most holy place, 
contained at first the two tables of the law, and in due time 
the book of the law or the Levitical institutes. Deut. xxxi. 
26. It was a witness of the holiness of God and of the 
sinfulness of the people, establishing the necessity of the 
atonement and purification set out in the ritual. 

Symbolical Meaning of the Tabernacle. 

1. The main truth symbolized by the sanctuary was the 
inhabitation of God in the midst of the race. It was a 
perpetual testimony that God does not dwell afar off; that 
he is not too great to concern himself with human affairs ; 
that he is near at hand to punish the wicked and reward 
the righteous. Jehovah's tent in the centre of the camp, 
the cloud of his glory standing above the dwelling, his 
glory between the cherubim, his voice heard therein, were 
expounded by God himself: "And let them make me 
a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." Ex. xxv. 8 ; 
xxix. 45. 

2. Approach can be made to God only by atonement and 
purification. Between the curtain of the fore court and 
the door of the tabernacle stood first the altar of burnt- 
offering, then the laver of washing. Both must be passed 
on the way to the sanctuary, showing the necessity of for- 
giveness and the washing of regeneration. 




The Tabernacle and Laver. 




The Ark of the Covenant. 



Page 75, 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 77 

3. The mercy-seat covering the tables of the law showed that 
" mercy rejoiceth over judgment." Kapporeth, the covering. 

4. The altar of incense symbolized prayer. Ps. cxli. 2; 
Rev. v. 8. The candlestick was the symbol of truth dif- 
fused (Rev. i. 20), and the table of show-bread, a loaf for 
each tribe, suggested communion with God at his table. 
The priests by whom the bread was eaten represented the 
people in the act of communion. 

Typical Meaning. 
See the Epistle to the Hebrews. 

After-history of the Tabernacle. 
After the children of Israel entered Canaan, the taber- 
nacle of Moses was the sanctuary for about five hundred 
years, until the reign of Solomon, when the temple was built. 
When the Israelites crossed the Jordan, the tabernacle was 
set up first in Gilgal, then in Shiloh, twenty-three miles 
north of Jerusalem, in Ephraim. Shiloh retained the taber- 
nacle between three and four hundred years. In the reign 
of Saul it was removed to Nob, about six miles north of 
Jerusalem, and was afterward conveyed to Gibeon. In the 
time of Eli the ark of the covenant was taken from the 
tabernacle, and was never returned to its place. 

Solomon's Temple. 

The tabernacle bore a distinct relation to the temple in 
its plan and furniture. It was a tent for Jehovah while 
Israel dwelt in tents ; it was movable until Mount Moriah 
was purchased by David (2 Sam. xxiv. 18, sq.\ when it 
gave place to a permanent and magnificent sanctuary. 

Solomon's temple was double the size of the tabernacle. 
The materials were square stones instead of acacia wood ; 
the walls and ceiling were lined with cedar curiously 
carved in flowers and palm trees and cherubim. The 
altar of burnt-offering was twenty cubits square and ten in 



78 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

height; instead of the laver, a molten sea, measuring from 
fifteen to seventeen thousand gallons, standing on twelve 
brazen oxen with their heads turned outward ; instead of 
one golden candlestick and one table of show-bread there 
were ten; in the most holy place the cherubim were of 
olive wood, ten cubits high ; and at the door of the temple 
two pillars of brass. For descriptions see 1 Kings, chap- 
ters vi. and vii. ; 2 Chronicles, chapters iii. and iv. 

For the temple of Zerubbabel and the temple of Herod 
reference is made to the Bible dictionaries. 



LESSON II. 

SACKED PERSONS. 

Origin and History of the Priesthood. 

1. The Priesthood in the Primitive and Patri- 
archal Ages. — At the beginning each worshiper offered 
sacrifice for himself, as Adam (Gen. iii. 21), Cain and Abel. 
Gen. iv. After the flood the office was in the patriarch 
of the family. Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob among 
the chosen seed, Melchizedek, and perhaps the priest of 
Midian (Ex. ii. 16), among the heathen, ministered at the 
altar. 

2. Indications of Future Changes in the Ordi- 
nance. — (1.) In Jacob's prophecy respecting the future 
of the twelve tribes, he declared that the tribe of Levi 
should have no separate inheritance in Canaan, but should 
be "scattered and divided." Gen. xlix. 5-7. 

(2.) At the slaying of the first-born in Egypt, God re- 
served to himself, for the service of the altar, the first- 
born son in every family of all Israel and the first-born 
of beasts. Ex. xiii. 2 ; Num. viii. 17. At the great covenant 
sacrifice at Sinai, burnt-offerings and peace-ofierings were 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 79 

offered by these first-born sons. Ex. xxiv. 5. But their 
priesthood was temporary and provisional. 

(3.) Meanwhile, the leading position assigned to Aaron in 
the negotiation with Pharaoh and in the giving of the law 
intimated not obscurely that he was foreordained to some 
high calling. 

3. The Sacred Persons Designated. — (1.) Very early 
in the proceedings at Sinai, God commanded Moses to set 
Aaron and his sons apart to the priesthood. Ex. xxviii. 1. 
At this stage in the history Aaron and his sons were the 
priests, and the first-born sons of all Israel were their 
assistants. 

(2.) As a reward of the fidelity and zeal of the Levites 
at Sinai (Ex. xxxii. 25-29) they were consecrated to the 
service of Jehovah. Deut. xxxiii. 10. In due time he 
ordered all the first-born males of all Israel, twenty-two 
thousand in number, to be exchanged for a like number of 
males in the tribe of Levi. The remainder, two hundred 
and seventy-three first-born males in all Israel, w r ere released 
from the service of the altar by the payment of five shekels 
each redemption money. By this arrangement Aaron and 
his male descendants became the priests, and the males of 
the tribe of Levi became his assistants, instead of the first- 
born of all the tribes. Num. iii. 5-13, 40-51 ; viii. 16-19. 
That was the final and permanent arrangement. 

Divine Vocation of the Sacred Persons. 
1. The Calling. — We have already seen that Aaron 
and his sons w T ere set apart to the priesthood by the 
divine command, wherein they w r ere named one by one. 
Ex. xxviii. 1. To this purpose Paul says, "No man 
taketh this honor unto himself, but he that was called of 
God as was Aaron." Heb. v. 4. The tribe of Levi, as we 
have seen, was also appointed to the service of the taber- 
nacle by the Almighty. 



80 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

2. This Vocation was Sovereign. — No reason is given 
why God chose Aaron to be high priest rather than any- 
other Israelite. Even when Korah and his company con- 
tested Aaron's right to the office, God did not condescend 
to give reasons for the choice which he had made. Aaron 
was no doubt eminently a man of God. But the narrative 
is careful to show that Aaron was by no means free from 
sin. Even after he was called to his holy office (Ex. xxviii. 
1), he encouraged the people in the worship of the golden 
calf. Ex. xxxii. Not long afterward he joined Miriam in 
murmuring against the divine appointment by which Moses, 
being assigned to the prophetic office, was preferred before 
them. For this sin Miriam was smitten with leprosy. Aaron 
escaped that punishment only because the leprosy w r ould 
have disqualified him for the priestly office. Num. xii. And, 
finally, thirty-eight years afterward, he became a partaker 
in the sin of Moses, and was sentenced to die in the wilder- 
ness. Num. xx. It is certain that Aaron was chosen to the 
holy priesthood out of God's good pleasure, " without any 
foresight of faith and good works, or perseverance in either 
of them, as conditions or causes moving him thereto." The 
same is to be said with much emphasis of the choice which 
God made of two of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. After 
their consecration they offered strange fire before the Lord, 
and w r ere devoured by fire going out from the Lord. Lev. 
x. 1-3. They were not chosen for their piety. 

3. Vindication of Aaron's Vocation. — Within one 
or two years after Aaron's call and consecration, Korah, 
who was a Levite, with Dathan and Abiram of the tribe 
of Reuben, instigated a revolt in the camp against the 
leadership of Moses and the priesthood in the hands of 
Aaron. Two hundred and fifty princes, men famous in the 
congregation and of great renown, entered into the con- 
spiracy. Its object was to oust both Moses and Aaron 




The High Priest, 




The Breastplate. 



Page 81. 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 81 

from their offices. The conspirators were put to the test be- 
fore the Lord. Korah and his company were destroyed, 
and the two hundred and fifty princes who presumed to 
offer incense were consumed by fire from the Lord. Num. 
xvi. 35. The censers which the insurgents used were, by 
God's command, made into broad plates for a covering for 
the altar, to be a memorial unto the children of Israel that 
"no stranger which is not of the seed of Aaron come near 
to offer incense before the Lord." Num. xvi. 40. 

Aaron's Vocation Authenticated. — The chiefs of 
Israel, one out of each tribe, were directed by Jehovah 
to take, each of them, a rod, and write his name upon it. 
Aaron did the same. The twelve rods were laid up in the 
tabernacle. On the morrow it was found that the rod of 
Aaron had blossomed and yielded almonds. This rod was 
laid up in the most holy place as a memorial that Aaron, 
to whom that rod belonged, and his sons were the only true 
and lawful priests. It was, in some sense, a commission, 
deposited in the ark of the covenant, authenticating the 
divine and exclusive priesthood of Aaron and his sons. 
Num. xvii. 

The Office, how Perpetuated. — The priesthood was 
conferred upon Aaron and his sons, descending from him 
through the ages. We must recognize here an extraordinary 
providential intervention in the usual course of nature. It 
is rare that any family is perpetuated in the male line beyond 
six or eight generations. But God made himself responsible 
for the continuance of heirs male to Aaron through about 
forty-five generations down to the coming of Christ. Through 
this entire period of fifteen hundred years there was no fail- 
ure in the succession. For the line of descent, see 1 Chron. 
vi. 3-14 and Neh. xii. 10, sq. 

Dress of the High Priest. 
See Ex. xxviii., and illustrations. 



82 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Ceremonial Holiness. 
The most important qualification of the priesthood was 
the ceremonial purity. God laid upon the conscience of 
the priest the command to be pure in heart ; yet one might 
be a lawful priest, though a wicked man. No standard of 
mental training w T as proposed, for the reason that the func- 
tions of his office required in him little more than the de- 
cent and orderly performance of outward ceremonies. He 
taught the people mainly by the dumb-show of the ritual, 
using not oral but pictorial instruction. But he must be 
ceremonially clean, scrupulously so — 

1. In his dress. On the forefront of his mitre was 
written, Holiness unto the Lord. Ex. xxviii. 36. 

2. In his consecration. Aaron and his sons were washed 
with water at the door of the tabernacle. Ex. xxix. 4. A 
solemn atonement w r as made for them. Ex. xxix. 10, 15, 19. 

3. He must be free from bodily defects. If he was 
deformed, he might be supported from the treasury of 
the sanctuary, but might not officiate as priest. Lev. xxi. 
17-23. 

4. Cleanliness. See Lev. xxii. 1-9. The law touching 
leprosy in Lev. xxii. 4 explains the fact that Aaron was not 
smitten with leprosy as well as Miriam. Num. xii. 9. The 
priest might not touch a dead body, nor enter a house where 
the dead lay, even if the dead were his father or mother. 
Lev. xxi. 11. Nor might he give any sign of mourning, 
for that w T as unclean ceremonially. Lev. xxi. 10-12. For 
this among other reasons, at the death of Nadab and Abihu, 
God commanded Aaron and his surviving sons not to ex- 
hibit any signs of grief, or even to leave the tabernacle. 

Functions of the Priesthood. 
1. The priest taken from among men was ordained for 
men in things pertaining to God, that he might offer gifts 
and sacrifices for sin. Heb. v. 1. 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 83 

2. He stood as the representative of a wide constituency. 
(1.) Israel was appointed by God to be "a kingdom of 
priests, a holy nation." Ex. xix. 6. That was the point of 
Koran's plea against the exclusive prerogative claimed by 
Aaron : " Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the con- 
gregation are holy, every one of them." Num. xvi. 3. See 
also Isaiah lxi. 6. (2.) The tribe of Levi represented the 
whole kingdom of priests — i. e., all Israel ; the family of 
Aaron represented the tribe of Levi ; and Aaron represented 
his family in the office of high priest. Aaron, who stood 
at the head of the w r hole hierarchy, represented his family 
before the Lord's altar; and through his family his tribe; 
and through his tribe all Israel; and through them the 
whole body of God's elect. This circumstance gives us a 
deep insight into the typical relation between the Aaronic 
priesthood and that of Christ, to wit : Christ's representa- 
tive relation to his people. 

3. Aaron's representative position is indicated — (1.) In* 
his official dress. On his shoulders were ten onyx stones, 
bearing the names of the twelve tribes. His breastplate 
contained twelve jewels on which the same names were 
graven. Ex. xxviii. 9, 15. (2.) His special duty was to 
offer sacrifices not only for his own sins but for the sins of 
the people. Lev. xvi.; Heb. ix. 7. (3.) He \yas the sole 
offerer of sacrifices. If any other man, even any other 
Levite, should come nigh the altar, he was put to death. 
Num. iii. 10 ; xvi. 40 ; xviii. 3. (4.) He was the mediator 
between God and the people, representing both. By the 
words " Holiness to the Lord," engraved on his mitre, he 
appeared for God ; by the names of the twelve tribes in 
the onyx stones and in the breastplate, he appeared for 
the people. 

4. He was the bearer of the holy oracles. The Urim 
and Thummim were in the breastplate, and by the use of 
these, when he stood before the inner veil of the tabernacle, 



84 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

he asked counsel of God and received the answer spoken 
out of the holy of holies. Num. xxvii. 21. 

Symbolical Meaning of the Sacerdotal Office. 

1. Man needs a divinely appointed mediator between 
himself and God. No other could come before God and 
live. 

2 The mediator must be a representative of both God 
and man. 

3. He must come before God with the blood of an 
atoning sacrifice. 

Typical Lesson. 

See on this vital doctrine the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
which is an inspired and luminous commentary on the 
book of Leviticus. Some of the points are — 

1. The divine vocation of Christ. Compare Ex. xxviii. 
1 with Heb. v. 4. 

2. Personal holiness. The holiness of the Levitical priest 
was ceremonial, a type only of the essential holiness of 
Christ. 

3. His representative position. Christ has entered into 
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for 
us. Heb. ix. 24. 

4. Christ is our mediator. Compare Lev. xvi. 15 with 
Heb. ix. 15 and 1 Tim. ii. 5. 

5. He made a true atonement for sin. Compare Lev. iv. 
20, 26, 31, 35, with Heb. ix. 11, 12. 

6. He is our intercessor. Compare Lev. xvi. 15 with 
Heb. ix. 24 ; vii. 25. 

Christ as Priest Superior to Aaron. 
(1.) Christ made priest with an oath. (2.) Holy, harm- 
less, undefiled. (3.) A royal priest — priest and king after 
the order of Melchizedek. (4.) Offering a sacrifice once 
for all. (5.) Holding an unchangeable and eternal priest- 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 85 

hood. (6.) Christ a priest, not under but above the Mosaic 
law ; not after the order of Levi, but an order greater than 
that of Melchizedek himself. Heb. vii. and viii. 



LESSON III. 
SACKED KITES. 



The ritual was the central part of the ceremonial insti- 
tutes. The sanctuary and its utensils were adapted to 
worship by sacrifice only. The priesthood was appointed 
to offer sacrifices. The sacred times were set apart for 
these solemnities. 

Distribution of the Sacred Rites. 

1. Into offerings and purifications. These two classes 
correspond to the furniture of the fore court, the altar 
being symbolical of atonement, and the laver of regene- 
ration. The offerings also refer to the guilt (culpa), and 
the purification to the stain (macula), of sin. 

2. The offerings were — (1.) Animal, or bloody and ex- 
piatory ; (2.) Vegetable, or bloodless and thankful. They 
rested on the truth that the worship of sinners must contain 
the two elements of expiation for sin and gratitude for the 
blessings of God. The first element was represented by the 
bloody, the last by the unbloody, oblation. 

8. The animal oblations were — (1.) The whole burnt- 
offering, Hebrew Olah, wherein the whole body of the victim 
was slowly burned on the altar. (2.) The burnt-offering, in 
which only a part of the victim — e. g., the fat — was burned. 
SeePs. 1L19. 

4. Burnt-offerings were — (1.) Sin ; (2.) Trespass ; (3.) 
Peace-offerings. In all these a portion of the victim was 
burned ; the fat only, or a part of the flesh with the fat. 



86 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

5. Peace-offerings were bloody. and were for — (1.) Vows; 
(2.) Thanksgiving; (3.) Free-will. 

6. Vegetable offerings were — (1.) Meat; (2.) Drink; 
(3.) First fruits ; (4.) Fruits dedicated in vows. 

SECTION I. 
Offerings. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMAL OFFERING. 

1. The animals were invariably such as were used for 
food ; the ox-kind, the sheep, the goat, and in condescen- 
sion to the poor the turtle dove and pigeon. The reasons 
why animals used for food were chosen are — (1.) They 
represented the wealth of the people, and the lesson was 
that man's possessions all belonged to God. (2.) This rule 
brought religious worship and daily family life close to- 
gether. (3.) Eating the flesh of the victim was a part of 
certain ceremonies at the altar. 

2. The place of the sacrifice was always at the sanctuary. 
The one sole altar and the one single high priesthood inti- 
mated not obscurely the unity of God ; the unity of the race 
as created, fallen and redeemed ; the unity of the Church, 
and the oneness of the mediator. The law was imperative. 
See Deut. xii. 13 ; compare Josh. xxii. 9-34. 

3. The minister of the sacrifice was the priest alone. 
Num. iii. 10 ; xvi. 40 ; xviii. 3-7. Compare the crime and 
punishment of Korah and his company in Num. xvi. 

The Whole Burnt-offering. 

1. It was so called because the whole body of the victim 
(the skin only excepted, which was the priest's perquisite, 
Lev. vii. 8) was burned. Lev. i. 6-9. It was also styled 
Olah, ascension, because it went up to God in the smoke 
thereof. In the Greek text of Heb. x. 8 it is called holo- 
caust — i. e. y burnt whole. 

2. This was the most ancient form of sacrifice. It was 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 87 

offered by Noah eight hundred years before the giving of 
the law. When introduced into the Hebrew ritual, the 
people well knew that it was no new act of worship, that 
it taught no new theology. It was one of their oldest and 
most sacred traditions. 

3. The basis of the entire ritual was laid in this oblation. 
The burning entered as an integral element into all the 
forms of the bloody offerings ; into the sin-, the trespass- and 
the peace-offerings. Blood and fire, were invariably seen in 
every one of the expiatory rites. 

4. It was renewed twice daily from day to day, and was 
therefore a " continual burnt-offering/' The fire never went 
out, the smoke never ceased to ascend day or night. Ex. 
xxix. 42 ; Num. xxviii. 3-6. 

5. This was the general comprehensive offering for sin 
as sin and for the sin of the race as a whole. Offerings for 
particular sins, whether of individuals or of all Israel, took 
the specific form of the sin- or the trespass- or the peace- 
offering. The olah was in the nature of a general act of 
worship and expiation for sin, without special reference to 
the guilt of the individual, or even of the Hebrews as the 
chosen people. " Behold the Lamb of God which taketh 
away the sin of the world" 

The Sin-offeking. 
See Leviticus iv. to v. 14. 

1. Like the olah, it was expiatory. Blood was shed and 
sprinkled on the furniture of the sanctuary, and was poured 
in floods over the altar of burnt-offering in the fore-court. 

2. Unlike the olah, it was expiatory of particular sins 
and the sins of individuals. 

3. Unlike the olah, the fat only was burnt, and the kid- 
neys, because these organs were imbedded in large deposits 
of fat. The flesh was otherwise disposed of. Lev. iv. 8, 
10-15. 



88 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

4. The greater sin-offering was presented — (1.) For the 
high priest when he was guilty of crime (Lev. iv. 3-12) ; 
(2.) For a sin of the whole people (Lev. iv. 13-21) ; (3.) 
On the great day of atonement. Lev. xvi. 26. 

5. The lesser sin-offering was presented — (1.) By the ruler 
(Lev. iv. 22-26) ; (2.) By the private person (vs. 27-35) ; 
and (3.) In various purifications, xii. 6 ; xiv. 19. 

The Trespass-offering. 
The full distinction between the sin- and the trespass- 
offering has not, perhaps, been ascertained. But the fol- 
lowing are points in which they differ: 1. The trespass- 
offering w T as never presented for the guilt of the whole 
people. That was a peculiarity of the sin-offering. 

2. The trespass-offering was presented when the idea of 
restitution for injuries done was introduced into the service. 
Lev. vi. 1-7. This offering belonged, in a special sense, 
to trespasses against human rights. Lev. vi. 1-6; vii. 1-7 1 
Num. v. 6-8. 

3. It was an inferior form of the sin-offering. This ap- 
pears — (1) from the occasion on which it was offered ; and 
(2) the blood was not taken into the sanctuary, nor put on 
the horns of the altar of burnt-offering ; but was simply 
sprinkled round about on the altar. Lev. v. 9 ; vii. 2. 

4. Christ is said, in 2 Cor. v. 21, to be made a sin-offering 
for us ; but nowhere is he called a trespass-offering, for the 
reason that the notion of our making restitution for our 
sins as against God is excluded. 

Peace-offering. 

See Lev. vii. 11-21. (1.) It was generally presented by 
way of thanksgiving for mercies received. 2 Sam. xv. 8 ; 
Ps. lxvi. 13-15. See also Jephthah's vow in Judges xi. 
30, 31. 

2. Expiation for sin was an essential element in the 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 89 

ceremony, showing that thanksgiving to God could not 
be separated from confession for sin. This was one of the 
fatal defects in Cain's offering. 

3. The votive and freewill- and thank-offerings were the 
three forms of the peace-offering. The wave- and heave- 
offering took their name from the ceremony of waving or 
heaving a portion of the victim, say the shoulder, toward 
the altar in the holy of holies. Hence the " wave breast" 
or " heave shoulder." Lev. vii. 32-34. 

Bloodless Offerings. 

1. These were also called the meat- and drink-offerings. 
Lev. ii. 

2. The matter was corn, oil, wine, the first-fruits, etc. 
They were, like the bloody offerings, chosen from the wealth 
of the people, and were articles of food, for the same 
reasons. 

3. These were solely thank-offerings. But the idea of 
expiation by fire and blood was never absent from even 
the thank-offering. Without the shedding of blood there 
could be no acceptable service of thanks. 

Sacrificial Rites. 
1. The rites performed by those wdio presented the victims 
w r ere — (1.) The act of the individual (Lev. i. 3), or of the 
elders for the congregation (iv. 14), bringing the victim to 
the door of the sanctuary. Rom. xii. 1. (2.) The imposi- 
tion of hands upon the head of the victim, denoting sub- 
stitution, the imputation of sin, and devoting the victim 
to God. These are the great outstanding elements of the 
ceremony. They go deeply into the very efficacy of the 
ritual and into the doctrine of salvation by Christ. Lev. 
xvi. 21, 22 ; Num. viii. 9-11 ; Lev. xxiv. 14. (3.) The 
slaying of the victim. This was at first done by the wor- 
shiper. Lev. i. 5. Afterward this was done by the Levites, 
because they were more expert. 



90 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

2. It was the office of the priest to dispose of the blood. 
He poured the blood upon the brazen altar or at its foot. 
Lev. i. 5. Or he sprinkled the blood on the altar of in- 
cense or the mercy-seat. Lev. iv. 4-7, 17, 18 ; xvi. 14. 
Hence the term, li blood of sprinkling." The priest also 
burned the flesh or the fat with the use of salt, etc. Lev. 
i. 7, 8 ; ii. 13. 

The Blood. 

The capital controlling idea of the offering stood in the 
use made of the blood. (1.) With the blood began the office 
of the priest. (2.) God declared that the life of the flesh 
was the blood, and the " blood maketh an atonement for 
the soul." Lev. xvii. 11. (3.) A perpetual statute forbade 
the eating of blood or fat, the first being poured on the 
altar and the last being offered by fire. Lev. iii. 17 ; vii. 
22-27. Here the lesson was indicated that by the shedding 
of blood was the remission of sins. 

The Offerings of the Poor. 
If one was too poor to bring a lamb, he might present 
two turtle doves and two pigeons. Or in case of extreme 
poverty he might bring a little flour, without even frank- 
incense or salt ; that, said God, shall be a " sin-offering," an 
atonement for him that hath sinned. Lev. v. 7-11. This 
is remarkable not only because it shows God's compassion 
for the poor, but because it is an allowed departure, in be- 
half of the poor, from the law T of sacrifice. This explains 
the offering of Mary, the mother of our Lord. Luke ii. 24. 

SECTION II. 

Kitual of Purifications. 

explanation. 

1. The Occasion of Ceremonial Uncleanness. — (1.) 

"Women in child-bed. Lev. xii. (2.) Issue from the flesh. 

xv. (3.) Leprosy, xiii. (4.) Contact with dead bodies. 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 91 

2. Restraints Laid on the Unclean.— They were 
shut out of the sanctuary on penalty of death. Lev. xiv. 
1-7 ; xv. 3 ; Num. xix. 13. In leprosy they dwelt in a 
separate house. 

3. Process of Cleansing. — (1.) Washing in water. Lev. 
xiv. 8 ; xv. 13. (2.) Cleansing by the use of ashes. See 
the ordinance of the red heifer in Num. xix. ; compare Heb. 
ix. 13. (3.) Hyssop and cedar were used to sweeten the un- 
clean. Num. xix. 6 ; Lev. xiv. 4. (4.) A sacrifice, usually 
by the sin-offering. Lev. xiv. 10-32. This fact is most 
important, showing that purification had direct reference 
to sin. 

Significance of Purification. 

The skeptical writers teach that they w T ere simply sanitary 
regulations founded solely in — (1) a regard for personal 
cleanliness ; (2) in a purpose to prevent the spread of dis- 
ease ; (3) and in a natural repugnance to certain habits of 
the body. 

These explanations are insufficient. (1.) The occasions 
of uncleanness are too few for mere sanitary purposes. 
There are many things more defiling to the body than 
touching a dead body or entering a tent where the dead 
are laid out. (2.) The sacrifice of one lamb for a burnt- 
and another for a sin-offering, or of a turtle dove and 
pigeon, can have no relevancy to sanitary precautions, or to 
mere cleanliness and natural aversion to filth. 

This part of the ritual was intended to set out the stain 
{macula) of sin, just as the ritual of offering corresponded 
to guilt (culpa). The occasions show this. Child-birth was 
ceremonially unclean to point out the fact of birth-sin. Ps. 
li. 5. Leprosy was a lively image of the loathsomeness of 
sin. Death is the wages of sin. The stain of sin being thus 
indicated, purification from sin was symbolized by the sin- 
offering, by the washings and the cleansings and the sweeten- 
ing by hyssop and cedar. The use of the ashes of a red 



92 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

heifer shows that these were not sanitary but religious 
ordinances. 

Symbolical Meaning of the Ritual as a Whole. 

1. The imputation of sin, and its transfer from the 
offender to the victim. Lev. iv. 3, 15, 24. 

2. Atonement by the shedding of blood. Lev. xvii. 11 ; 
Heb. ix. 22. 

3. The work of salvation is twofold. It is an atonement 
and a purification. These two distinct yet related truths 
were plainly taught by the two distinct yet related systems 
of offering and purification, both making one undivided 
ritual. Atonement for sin by the shedding of blood, puri- 
fication from sin by washings and cleansings, were the out- 
standing and inseparable ideas of the system. 

Typical Meaning. 

1. The lamb was typical of Christ. John i. 29. 

2. The death of Christ atoning for sin and the work of 
the Spirit purging away sin. See Epistle to the Hebrews. 

3. The ritual as a whole was typical of the gospel as a 
whole ; it was a shadow of good things to come. Heb. ix. 



LESSON IV. 
SACRED TIMES. 



1. Distribution.— I. The Sabbath. II. The feast of 
trumpets. III. Three great feasts of convocation. IV. 
Great day of atonement. 

2. The Basis of the Calendar was the Sabbath, 
after the manner in which the altar was the basis of the 
tabernacle, the patriarchal priest the basis of the priest- 
hood, and the olali that of the ritual. 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 93 

3. Out of the Sabbath were evolved the three other 
seasons which followed the rule of sevens, thus — (1.) The 
feast of trumpets. (2.) The Sabbatical year was the seventh 
year, during which the soil rested from tillage, and its 
spontaneous products were given to the poor. Ex. xxiii. 
10, 11 ; Lev. xxv. 1-7; Deut. xv. 1, 2. (3.) The year of 
jubilee was the Sabbath of the sabbatical years — the forty- 
ninth year, 7X7. Servants were liberated, and property 
sold was returned to its former owner. Lev. xxv. 

Historical Relations of the Sabbath. 

1. To the Human Race. — It was given to man at the 
creation for a clay of rest. Gen. ii. 2 ; Mark ii. 27. 

2. To the Jews. — It was made a sign of the covenant 
between God and Israel. Ex. xxxi. 13. The violation of 
it was a capital crime. Ex. xxxi. 14 ; xxxv. 2, 3. This 
law grew out of the constitution of the Hebrew state as a 
theocracy, and out of God's peculiar position in the gov- 
ernment as its supreme temporal King and Ruler. Sabbath- 
breaking was leze-majesty — a crime against the sovereign 
power in the land. The worship of the Sabbath is pre- 
scribed in Num. xxviii. 9. The show-bread was renewed 
on this day. Lev. xxiv. 5, 9 ; compare Matt. xii. 5. 

The Feast of Trumpets. 

1. On the first day of the new moon the beginning of 
the month was announced to the people by the blowing of 
silver trumpets and the offering of a burnt- offering. Num. 
x. 10; xxviii. 11. 

2. The ecclesiastical year began with the first new moon 
after the vernal equinox, generally in April. The civil 
year began six months later, in October, and was intro- 
duced by the feast of trumpets. Special sacrifices were 
offered on this new year's anniversary. Lev. xxiii. 25 ; 
Num. xxix. 1-6. The effect of this was a double date in 



94 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

the Jewish reckoning, analogous to the usage in certain 
public documents issued in the United States, wherein two 
dates appear, January 1 and July 4. For scriptural ex- 
positions of the feast, see Ps. lxxxi. 3; Isa. i. 13, 14; Col. 
ii. 16. 

Feasts of Convocation. 

1. These were the passover, pentecost and the feast of 
tabernacles. In Deut. xvi. 16 they are denominated the 
feasts of unleavened bread, of w^eeks and of tabernacles. 

2. They are commonly called feasts of convocation be- 
cause all the males of Israel were required on these occa- 
sions to assemble at the door of the sanctuary while they 
were in the wilderness, and ever after, through the ages, 
while they dwelt in the land of Canaan. Ex. xxiii. 17. 
Among the advantages of this remarkable ordinance were : 
(1.) It gave opportunity for the religious instruction of the 
whole people. (2.) It strengthened the bonds of national 
unity, counteracting some of the divisive tendencies of tribal 
separation and jealousy. (3.) It brought to the minds of 
the people the truths and promises of which these feasts 
were symbolical. 

3. The passover took place at the opening of the ecclesi- 
astical year; the feast of the tabernacles occurred at the 
beginning of the civil year. The pentecost divided the 
interval unequally. The three feasts all fell into the six 
months from April to October. 

4. Each of these feasts had a threefold association with 
the usages of the people. One was historical, commemo- 
rating an event in the history of the people. A second 
was national, marking the season of the year. The third 
was religious, connected with spiritual blessings enjoyed or 
expected. 

Passover. 

1. It commemorated the departure from Egypt. Ex. xii. 
1-28. 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 95 

2. It marked the beginning of the early harvest. Lev. 
xxiii. 10-14. " Green ears" in April. 

3. The lamb slain was a type of Christ: "Christ our 
passover." 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. 

Pentecost. 
This feast was held seven weeks after the passover ; hence 
called feast of weeks. Lev. xxiii. 15, 16. 

1. Jewish traditions suggest that it commemorated the 
giving of the law from Sinai, fifty days after the Exodus. 

2. It marked the latter harvest ; hence called the " feast 
of harvest" in Ex. xxiii. 16. Compare Num. xxviii. 26; 
Lev. xxiii. 17. 

3. It prefigured perhaps the descent of the Holy Spirit, 
"when the day of pentecost was fully come." Acts ii. 1. 

Feast of Tabernacles. 
It was so called because during the feast the people dwelt 
in booths or tents. Lev. xxiii. 40. 

1. Historically it was associated with the journey in the 
wilderness. 

2. It marked the beginning of the vintage and ingather- 
ing of the fruits. Ex. xxiii. 16. 

3. The state of the Church in the everlasting rest was 
represented by this feast. Compare Lev. xxiii. 40 with 
Rev. vii. 9. 

The Great Day of Atonement. 
This was by far the most solemn and imposing of all the 
ceremonial observances. It is described at length in the 
sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. The references below are 
to that chapter, unless otherwise indicated. 

1. It was a day of fasting and sorrow and humiliation 
for sin. Lev. xxiii. 27-29 ; xvi. 29-31. 

2. The day occurred very near the close of the civil year 



96 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

in October. Lev. xvi. 29. The sins of the people had been 
typically atoned for by the daily sacrifice and the continual 
burnt-offering. But now the sins of the whole year were 
recapitulated, and a broad atonement was made for the 
accumulated mass of transgressions. 

3. The atonement was most thorough. The high priest 
made an atonement for himself and his family ; for the 
people ; for the holy place ; for the most holy place ; for 
the altar of sacrifice itself, vs. 6-20. See the summing up 
in v. 33. It was a most vivid picture of the moral pollution 
of man. The high priest was held to be himself a sinner ; 
he was held to be polluted by the sins of the people as their 
representative. The altar of their daily worship, all the 
sacred furniture of the sanctuary, the holy place, the most 
holy place, and even the mercy-seat, were treated 'as things 
polluted, and now to be purified by the shedding and sprink- 
ling of blood. Like a subtle infection, sin had poisoned all, 
even the most holy, and was required to be removed on the 
great day of national fasting and humiliation. 

4. The services of the day summed up and recapitulated 
the entire ritual. (1.) All the animals used in daily sacri- 
fices were now 7 slain, vs. 3-5. (2.) The three great forms of 
sacrifice were used, the olah (v. 24) ; the sin-offering (v. 
25) ; and the burning without the camp. v. 27. (3.) All 
parts of the sanctuary and all its furniture were brought 
into use : the fore-court (v. 24) ; the holy place (v. 20) ; and 
the holy of holies, v. 14. The whole ritual system was re- 
produced. It was all there. The sanctuary in all its apart- 
ments w 7 as entered. The priesthood w r as there in its highest 
representative. The ritual was there in the blood of bullock, 
ram and goat — this blood sprinkled everywhere ; the burnt- 
offering on the altar, the sin-offering, the burning without 
the camp were seen there. The day itself was a Sabbath 
of rest and affliction. Lev. xxiii. 32. The ceremonies made 
up an atonement for sin, for all sin — of all the people, an 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 97 

atonement for the altar and the sanctuary and the mercy- 
seat, unclean by the transgression of Israel. 

5. Ceremonies peculiar to this day. (1.) One of these 
was the entrance into the most holy place by the high priest. 
On this one day in the year only might the high priest go 
behind the veil. He went in during the day once with in- 
cense and with blood for his own sins, and once with blood 
for the sins of the people. Lev. xvi. ; Heb. ix. 7, 25. 

(2.) Another was the ceremony of the slain and the scape- 
goats. Lev. xvi. 7-10 ; xvi. 21-26. The symbolical meaning 
of this rite is plain. The atonement for sin includes two 
ideas, substitution for sin and its removal from the offender. 
Substitution was set forth by the goat slain at the door of 
the tabernacle. Its removal was represented by the acts of 
the high priest confessing over the other goat the iniquities 
of the people, putting them on its head, and sending him 
into the wilderness to return no more. Substitution for the 
sinner and the removal of his sin made up expiation. The 
slain goat was a symbol of the sin-sacrifice ; the scapegoat 
of the sin-bearer. This plain explanation of the rite shows 
how useless are the puzzles which have been invented whereby 
the subject is confused. These are some of the unreasonable 
suggestions that have been offered — that the two goats repre- 
sented the human and the divine nature of Christ ; or his 
humiliation and exaltation ; or his personal sufferings and 
the contempt of men ; or Christ and Barabbas. 

(3.) The burning of the victim without the camp. Heb. 
xiii. 11. 

Typical Significance of the Calendar. 

See Epistle to the Hebrews. 

CONCLUDING EEMAKKS. 
I. The Efficacy of the Mosaic Kitual. 
(1.) These atonements did not purchase the pardon of 
gin. Heb. x. 4. The place to this effect in Isa. xl. 16 is 

9 



98 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

thus paraphrased by Umbreit : " Lebanon the altar ; nature 
the temple ; its lordly woods the pile ; and its countless beasts 
the sacrifice ;" but all could not put away sin. 

(2.) The Levitical purification did not purify the soul, 
but the flesh only. Heb. ix. 13, 14. 

(3.) These ordinances restored the offenders and the un- 
clean to church privileges. 

(4.) They expiated certain civil offences. Lev. iv. 2, seq. 
But high crime could not be expiated even by these bloody 
rites. 

(5.) Sin as against God was only typically atoned for by 
these rites. They pointed forward to a true atonement by 
the blood of Christ and a vital regeneration by the work 
of the Holy Ghost. The analogy is found in the Christian 
sacraments. They do not save by any virtue in them — they 
are the signs and seals of what does save ; viz. : the work 
of Christ and of the Spirit. The efficacy of the ritual may 
be stated thus: Ceremonial sin actually, moral sin typically, 
atoned for. 

II. Allowed Departures from the Ceremonial 
Institutes. 

1. For the strict law of the sanctuary, see Lev. xvii. 8-9 ; 
Deut. xii. 1-11. For allowed departures, see 1 Sam. xvi. 
5 ; 1 Kings xviii. 33 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 25. 

2. For the law of the priesthood, see Num. xvi. 40; 2 
Chron. xxvi. 19. For the allowed departures, see offerings 
made by David, Elijah, Samuel, Saul, and notably by Solo- 
mon in 2 Chron. i. 6. None of these men were Levitical 
priests. 

3. For the law of the ritual, compare the law requiring 
blood with the offering of the poor, a little " fine flour" in 
Lev. v. 11. 

4. For the law of the calendar, compare the regular time 
of the passover with the appointment out of time by Heze- 



CEREMONIAL INSTITUTES. 99 

kiah in 2 Chron. xxx. 18. On the subject generally, see 
Lev. xxiv. 8 ; 1 Sam. xxi. 6 ; Num. ix. 6 ; Matt. xii. 10, seq. ; 
John xviii. 28. 

These departures from the provisions of the law show — 
(1.) That the law ascribes to its rites no inherent power to 
save. Salvation was not tied to any of them. (2.) The 
rites were typical. Their significance as such was not 
marred by occasional departures from any one or all of 
them. (3.) The law contained within itself signs of its in- 
complete and provisional character. The law made nothing 
perfect. Heb. vii. 19. (4) Its chief value was in its rela- 
tion to the blood of Christ, to which salvation is tied — a 
salvation which is complete and final, and from the methods 
of which there is neither departure nor exception. 



BIBLE HISTORY. 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 
ARCHEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 



BY THE 

Bev. WM. HENEY GKEEN, D.D., LL.D. 



9* 



BIBLE HISTORY. 



LESSON I. 
FEOM THE CEEATION TO THE EXODUS. 

Bible history divides itself into two principal parts, viz. : 
the history of the Old Testament, embracing that which 
precedes and is preparatory to the coming of Christ, and 
the history of the New Testament, which records that com- 
ing itself, and that which results from it and follows after it. 

The history of the preparation for Christ's coming begins 
with the expulsion of our first parents from Eden and the 
promise then given (Gen. iii. 15) that the seed of the woman 
shall bruise the head of the serpent. What precedes is 
preliminary, and was needed to explain the scene in which, 
and the circumstances under which, this progressive victory 
or this process of redemption and recovery was to be accom- 
plished. The narrative of the creation of the world (Gen. i. 
1-ii. 3) provides the scene ; man's being placed in paradise 
(ii. 4-25) and his fall (ch. iii.) supply the circumstances. 
The original promise advances to its accomplishment, first, 
from Adam to Abraham under a general covenant embra- 
cing all mankind (Gen. i.-xi.), and, secondly, from Abraham 
to Christ under a special covenant temporarily restricted to 
a single family or nation for the ultimate benefit of all the 
families of the earth. Gen. xii. 1-3. The history before Abra- 
ham is divided into the antediluvian period (Gen. i.-viii.), 
before the destruction of the world by the Deluge ; and the 
postdiluvian period, from that time onward to the call of 

103 



104 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Abraham. Gen, ix.-xi. The history after Abraham is 
divided into the patriarchal or pre-mosaic period, preced- 
ing the exodus of Israel out of Egypt, during which the 
chosen seed expanded from a family to a nation (Gen. xii.-l.) , 
and the history subsequent to the exodus or the history 
of Israel as the people of God. The history of the chosen 
people is again divisible into three principal periods, viz. : 
First, from the exodus to the death of David, or from the 
organization of Israel as the people of God to the complete 
establishment of the kingdom. Second, from the death of 
David to the Babylonish exile, which continues the history 
of the kingdom until its downfall. Third, from the Baby- 
lonish exile to the advent of Christ, during which Israel 
was subject to foreign domination. 

During the three periods from Adam to Moses, God's 
revelation was given to man only in an oral form, and each 
period was distinguished by a divine covenant peculiar to 
itself and by a specific promise of its own of increasing defi- 
niteness. To the antediluvian period belong God's cove- 
nant with Adam and the promise respecting the seed of the 
woman ; to the postdiluvian period belong God's covenant 
with Noah and the promise to Shem ; to the patriarchal 
period belong God's covenant with Abraham and its prom- 
ises, which were successively renewed with Isaac and with 
Jacob, and the signal promise to Judah. Gen. xlix. 8, ff. 

During the three periods from Moses to Christ, God's 
revelation was given not only in an oral, but also in a writ- 
ten, form. At the beginning of the first period the five 
books of Moses, commonly called the Pentateuch, were 
written. The rest of the history of this period, from the 
death of Moses to the death of David, is contained in what 
might be called a second Pentateuch, or the five books of 
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2d Samuel. To the close of 
the first and the beginning of the second period — that is to 
say, to the reigns of David and Solomon — belongs the greater 



BIBLE HISTORY. 105 

part of what may be called the third Pentateuch, or the 
five books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the 
Song of Solomon. The book of Lamentations, though poet- 
ical, belongs to a later time, and may be regarded as a sup- 
plement or appendix to the prophecies of Jeremiah. The 
remainder of the inspired history of the former dispensa- 
tion, extending from the death of David to the end of the 
Old Testament, is recorded in what may be called a fourth 
Pentateuch, viz. : 1st and 2d Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah and 
Esther ; the two books of Chronicles, which cover the same 
period as Samuel and Kings, being supernumerary and not 
counted in the estimate here made. The further history, to 
the time of Christ, is contained in uninspired though authen- 
tic writings. Near the close of the second period after 
Moses, and in the earlier portion of the third — that is to 
say, as the kingdoms were approaching their downfall as 
well as in and after the Babylonish exile — we find what 
may be called a fifth Pentateuch, completing the inspired 
writings of the Old Testament, viz. : the four books of the 
major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, to- 
gether with the collection of the minor prophets, which, 
on account of the smallness of the individual books, may 
be reckoned one, as was usual, in fact, in all the early cata- 
logues or lists of books of Scripture. 

The history of the New Testament may be divided into 
two principal portions or periods, in which we find a like 
repetition as before of the two successive methods of divine 
revelation. First, the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, during 
which the word of God was made known orally and by 
his own manifestation of himself in the person of his only- 
begotten Son. Secondly, the history of the apostles and 
of the Church which they founded, from the time of our 
Lord's ascension, when divine revelation was continued by 
means of inspired writings. The New Testament completes 
itself in what may be called two Pentateuchs; the first 



106 PREPAEIXG TO TEACH. 

group covers the history and embraces the four Gospels and 
the Acts of the Apostles ; the second group includes the 
didactic or prophetic writings of five apostles, viz. : Paul, 
James, Peter, John and Jude. 

From the Creation to the Flood. 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth 
in six days. The work of the first day was light; of the 
second, the firmament ; of the third, the dry land with its 
products; of the fourth, the sun, moon and stars; of the 
fifth, fishes and birds ; of the sixth, land animals and man, 
who was created in the image of God. All was made very 
good ; and on the seventh day God rested from his work 
and instituted the Sabbath in commemoration of this fact. 

Man was placed in the garden of Eden and forbidden to 
eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil upon pain 
of death. The woman, formed to be his helper, was deceived 
by the serpent and ate of the forbidden fruit ; she gave also 
unto her husband with her, and he did eat. They were in 
consequence sentenced to return to the ground from which 
they were taken, and were driven forth from the garden lest 
they should eat of the tree of life and live for ever. And 
a curse was pronounced upon the tempter which involved a 
promise to the fallen race of man : " I will put enmity 
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and 
her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his 
heel." Gen. iii. 15. This predicted struggle began in the 
family of Adam when Cain, his first-born, " who was of 
that wicked one" (John iii. 12), slew his brother Abel, 
because Abel's offering of the firstlings of his flock was 
accepted and Cain's offering of the first fruits of the ground 
was not. It came to its climax when Christ, the seed of the 
woman, by way of eminence, conquered Satan by his death. 
It shall be ended when Satan shall have been bruised under 
the feet of all of Christ's people. Kom. xvi. 20. 



BIBLE HISTORY. 107 

Cain was driven forth from the presence of the Lord a 
fugitive for his crime. Among his descendants we find 
criminal excesses and worldly culture — the first city, repre- 
sentative of secular power (Gen. iv. 17), the polygamy of 
Lamech (ver. 19), and his bloodthirsty threats of vengeance 
(vs. 23, 24), tents and cattle, musical instruments and work- 
ing brass and iron. vs. 20-22. Seth, who was appointed 
instead of Abel, was the head of a pious race. In the days 
of his son Enos men began to call upon the name of the 
Lord. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, walked with God, 
and was not, for God took him. Lamech piously looked for 
a blessing in his son Noah. v. 29. Noah, the tenth from 
Adam, was a just man, perfect in his generations, and he 
walked with God. vi. 9. 

But the sons of God, or the pious race, intermarried with 
the daughters of men, the ungodly descendants of Cain ; 
and wickedness so increased that God at length, in the 600th 
year of Noah, and according to the common computation 
1656 years after the creation of man, destroyed the world 
by a flood. Only Noah and his family were saved in an 
ark which he had been directed to build, and into which he 
took some of all kinds of beasts and fowl and creeping 
things. The waters prevailed for five months, at the end 
of which time the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. 
At the end of one year and ten days the waters had disap- 
peared and the ground was dried. 

From the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 

After this violent interruption the history again proceeds 
with Noah, the second head of the human race, in whose 
line a fresh experiment is instituted, with many points of 
resemblance to the preceding. As there had been a cove- 
nant with Adam, so there is one with Noah pledging that 
all flesh should never again be destroyed by a flood, ix. 11. 
The blessing is renewed, Be fruitful and multiply, and re 



108 PEEPAEING TO TEACH. 

plenish the earth, and dominion is again granted over the 
creatures, ix. 12. Mention is made as before of the offer- 
ing of sacrifice ; and that of Noah as he came out of the ark 
is accepted, as Abel's had been. viii. 20. The prohibition 
of murder plainly looks back to the crime of Cain. ix. 6. 
Noah transgressed also (ix. 21), as Adam had done, and 
his son Ham is guilty of an offence which severs him from 
the promise and leads to a fresh limitation of it to the line 
of Shem, whose God the Lord would be and in whose tents 
he would dwell, ix. 26, 27. The progress of mankind in 
this period, as in the preceding, was once more away from 
God. As that had ended with the segregation of Noah 
and his three sons, so this with the call of Abraham, one 
of Terah's three sons and the tenth in descent from Shem, to 
found a new race which might be guarded from surround- 
ing contamination, and amongst whom the way might be 
prepared for the advent of the great Redeemer. The rest 
of mankind were not in this instance destroyed, as by the 
flood, but temporarily passed by, with a view, however, to 
their future reception into the kingdom of God. Hence 
the origin of the various nations of the world is here re- 
corded (ch. x.) as springing from the three sons of Noah, 
Shem, Ham and Japheth, of whom the whole earth was 
overspread, ix. 19. This was done with a double design : 
first, that of gradually eliminating the divergent branches, 
in order afterward to pursue uninterruptedly the line of 
the promise (xi. 10-26); and, secondly, that of declaring 
their affiliation with the chosen seed, to whom by no right 
of their own, but by God's special favor, the covenant of his 
grace was temporarily, and yet only temporarily, restricted. 
Mention is also made of the rise of the great empires of 
Babylon and Assyria (x. 10, 11), which, aspiring to univer- 
sal dominion, were doomed to fall with all their successors 
before that empire which alone shall ever be truly univer- 
sal. Dan. ii. 44. The confusion of tongues at Babel in the 



BIBLE HISTORY. 109 

days of Peleg (x. 25), the fifth from Shera (xi. 16), is a 
part of the process of dispersion and separation which be- 
longs to the temporary rejection of the Gentiles. The 
removal of this restriction was symbolized at the beginning 
of the new dispensation by the gift of tongues on the day 
of Pentecost, when men from many lands were brought 
together to hear the gospel and the variety of their lan- 
guages offered no obstruction. 

This period, according to the common computation, covers 
292 years. 

From the Call of Abraham to the Exodus. 

Abram, afterward named Abraham (Gen. xvii. 5), chosen 
to be the progenitor of the peculiar people of God, was 
severed from the idolatry of his father's house (Josh. xxiv. 
2) and his faith subjected to the severest tests. He was 
bidden to leave his country and his kindred and go into a 
land that God would show him (Gen. xii. 1), which he did 
in the seventy-fifth year of his age, accompanied by Sarai, 
afterward named Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son. 
The promise was given him, and several times repeated, of 
the possession of Canaan, of a numerous seed, and that all 
nations should be blessed in him. But the land was then 
occupied by Canaanites; and though Abraham sojourned 
unmolested and erected altars at various points, as Shechem 
(xii. 6, 7), Bethel (ver. 8) and Hebron (xiii. 18) ; and digged 
wells, as at Beersheba (xxi. 30, 31) ; and chastised the in- 
vaders who had carried off Lot (xiv. 13) ; and received a 
blessing, as well as the gift of bread and wine, from Melchiz- 
edek, king of Salem and priest of the most high God, 
whose sacred character he recognized by paying him tithes 
of his booty (vs. 19, 20) ; and Lot, who had chosen the val- 
ley of Jordan as his own (xiii. 10, 11), abandoned it after 
the destruction of Sodom (xix. 30) ; yet he never owned a 
foot of land (Acts vii. 5) except the burying-place which 

10 



110 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

he purchased from the sons of Heth for himself and Sarah, 
xxiii. 13, ff. 

Though he had the promise of posterity, he was long kept 
waiting for its accomplishment. He w T as twice in danger 
of losing his wife (xii. 11, ff. ; xx. 2, ff. ) ; the steward of 
his house was looked upon as his future heir (xv. 2, 3) ; 
Ishmael was born to him of Hagar, but this was not the 
promised seed (xvii. 18, 19) ; at length, after Isaac had 
been born, in his one hundredth year (xxi. 5), he was directed 
to offer him up in sacrifice (ch. xxii.), but at the critical 
moment the Lord interfered, and substituted a ram for 
Isaac, approved Abraham's faith and spared him further 
trials. 

Rebekah was obtained from the land of his kindred as a 
wife for Isaac. Her elder son, Esau, was excluded from the 
line of the covenant and the promise restricted to Jacob, who 
fled from his brother's displeasure to Padan-aram, where 
he served Laban twenty years and married his daughters 
Leah and Rachel, by whom he had twelve sons. After Ja- 
cob's return to Canaan his favorite son Joseph was sold into 
Egypt, and subsequently raised to be chief in authority, next 
to Pharaoh. This prepared the way for the removal of 
Jacob, also called Israel (xxxii. 28), with his family, sev- 
enty in all (xlvi. 27), into Egypt, 215 years after Abra- 
ham had entered Canaan. Here they were located in the 
fertile district of Goshen, that they might be converted from 
a nomadic life into one of settled habitation and developed 
into a numerous people under the shelter of the most famous 
empire then existing in the world, and in which the science 
of government, the useful arts and all that pertains to re- 
finement and civilization had been carried to the highest 
measure of perfection then attained. 

As the predicted time of their return out of Egypt drew 
nigh (xv. 13-16) providential measures were taken to effect 
it. The multiplication of Israel exciting jealous apprehen- 



BIBLE HISTORY. Ill 

sions (Ex. i. 10), they were subjected to hard bondage and 
an ordinance passed that their male children should be put 
to death as soon as born. In these straits a deliverer was 
born in the person of Moses, who was hid by his parents for 
threo months and then exposed on the brink of the river, 
where he was taken charge of by Pharaoh's daughter, who 
had him trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Acts 
vii. 22. When forty years old, he was obliged to flee into 
Midian, and there familiarized with the desert for forty years. 
God then appeared to him in the burning bush, and sent him, 
with his brother Aaron, to demand of Pharaoh that he should 
let the Lord's people go. Upon his refusal ten successive 
plagues were sent — water changed to blood, frogs, lice, swarms 
of flies, murrain, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, the slaying 
of the first-born. The passover w T as instituted, and Israel 
led forth 600,000 men, besides children and a mixed multi- 
tude (Ex. xii. 37, 38), precisely 430 years after the entry 
into Egypt, xii. 40, 41. Pharaoh pursued them with his 
army, but a passage was miraculously opened for Israel 
through the Red Sea, and their pursuers were drowned. 



LESSON II 

FEOM THE EXODUS TO THE DEATH OF DAVID. 

The chosen seed were now sufficiently multiplied ; they 
were next to be organized as the people of God and estab- 
lished in Canaan. This was accomplished in four succes- 
sive steps : 1. By the covenant at Sinai and the legislation 
of Moses they were constituted the people of God and 
placed under his laws. 2. They w T ere put in possession of 
the promised land by Joshua. 3. They were made to feel 
their lack of unity and of a vigorous government in the 
time of the Judges. 4. Their civil organization was com- 



112 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

pleted and the conquest of the land perfected under Sam- 
uel, Saul and David. 

The people, brought safely through the Red Sea and fed 
on manna, were first led to Sinai, where the ten command- 
ments were proclaimed by God himself amidst awful pomp 
(Ex. xx.), and the covenant was formally ratified between 
him and the people through their representatives, Moses, 
Aaron and his sons and seventy elders of Israel, xxiv. 1-11. 
Moses then went into the mount for forty days and nights to 
receive the law of God. The people, impatient at his long 
delay, made the golden calf and worshiped it, whereupon 
the Lord would have destroyed them but for Moses' urgent 
intercession, ch. xxxii. They remained at Sinai one year 
(Num. x. 11, 12), during which the tabernacle was built, the 
ritual was instituted and Aaron and his sons were ordained to 
the priesthood. Removing thence, they were led by a pillar 
of cloud and fire. Transgression was severely punished in 
repeated instances, as the fire at Taberah (xi. 1), the plague 
following the sending of the quails (xi. 33) and Miriam's 
leprosy for contending with Moses, xii. 10. On their arri- 
val at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Paran, they sent twelve 
spies to view the land, at whose report the people refused to 
proceed, threatening to stone Moses and to go back again 
to Egypt. They were in consequence condemned to wan- 
der forty years in the desert, till that entire generation had 
perished, with the sole exception of Joshua and Caleb (xiv. 
30), who had brought a good report of the land. 

During this term of their banishment they were guilty 
of gross trangression (Ezek. xx. 13) and open idolatry. 
Amos v. 25, 26 ; Acts vii. 42, 43. Korah and a company 
of 250 of the tribe of Levi rebelled against the exclusive 
priesthood of Aaron, claiming an equal right to minister 
at the altar, and were supported in their rebellion by Da- 
than, Abiram and others of the tribe of Reuben ; but the 
earth opened and swallowed up the latter, with all that ap- 



BIBLE HISTORY. 113 

pertained to them, while a fire blazed forth from the Lord 
which burned up the former with their censers in their hands, 
and a plague broke out among the people, destroying upward 
of fourteen thousand Num. xvi. The divine choice of Aaron 
was shown when twelve rods were laid up before the Lord, 
one to represent each tribe, and Aaron's rod budded and 
brought forth almonds, ch. xrvii. 

In the first month of the fortieth year the whole congre- 
gation were again gathered at Kadesh. xx. 1. Here Miriam 
died, and Moses and Aaron, failing to honor God before the 
rebellious people in bringing water out of the rock, were 
prohibited from entering the promised land. ver. 12. The 
king of Edom refusing to suffer Israel to pass through his 
land, a circuit w 7 as made around it, requiring them to retrace 
their steps from the southern border of Canaan to the shores 
of the eastern arm of the Red Sea. vs. 14, ff. 

Aaron died at Mount Hor. xx. 28 ; xxxiii. 38. The 
murmurs of the people, who were discouraged because of 
the way, were punished by fiery serpents, and a brazen 
serpent erected upon a pole that they who looked upon it 
might be healed, xxi. 19. Sihon, king of the Amorites, and 
Og, king of Bashan, were subdued (xxi. 21, ff.), and their 
territory, which lay east of the Jordan, was assigned to Reu- 
ben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh (xxxii. 33) on 
condition of their assisting their brethren in the conquest 
of the remainder of the land. Balak, king of Moab, hired 
Balaam the soothsayer to come from Pethor in Mesopota- 
mia and curse Israel, but his curse was changed to a bless- 
ing ; and though the Moabites and Midianites through his 
counsel enticed the people into idolatry and crime at Baal- 
peor, it was severely avenged by a battle in which Balaam 
and five kings of Midian were slain, xxxi. 8. Israel now 
encamped in the plains of Moab. Here Moses rehearsed to 
them the w 7 hole law in the last month of the fortieth year 
(Deut. i. 13), including the promise (Deut. xviii. 18), " The 

10* 



114 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the 
midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me." Comp. Acts 
iii. 22. He then gave a charge to Joshua as his successor 
(xxxi. 23), delivered the book of the law to the Levites to 
be kept in the side of the ark of the covenant (vs. 24, ff.), 
pronounced a blessing upon the several tribes (ch. xxxiii.), 
and went up the mountain of Nebo to the top of Pisgah, 
where the Lord showed him all the promised land, and he 
died there, one hundred and twenty years old. 

2. To Joshua was committed the task of conducting 
Israel into Canaan, subduing the land, and apportioning it 
among the several tribes. He first sent two spies to view 
Jericho, where they were protected by the harlot Rahab. 
The people were then led through the Jordan on dry land, 
and twelve stones taken from its bed were laid up at Gilgal, 
their first encampment in Canaan, in commemoration of the 
miracle. Here the covenant with God was renewed by 
circumcision, which had been neglected in the wilderness 
(Josh. v. 5), and by the celebration of the passover, the 
mann^ thenceforth ceasing, as no longer needed. The walls 
of Jericho were miraculously thrown down, and the place 
pronounced accursed ; its silver and gold and vessels of 
brass and iron were devoted unto the treasury of the Lord, 
and all that were in the city were devoted to destruction, 
except Rahab and those who were in her house. At Ai 
the people were repulsed in consequence of Achan's tres- 
pass in the accursed thing. He had coveted and taken 
from the spoils of Jericho, but his crime was detected and 
punished, whereupon Ai was again assaulted and taken. 
An altar was then erected in Mount Ebal, and the blessings 
and curses of the law formally pronounced in the presence 
of all the people. The inhabitants of Gibeah, by a success- 
ful stratagem, made peace with Joshua. A combination 
formed of five kings in the southern portion of the country, 
headed by the king of Jerusalem, was defeated, Joshua 



BIBLE HISTORY. 115 

bidding the sun stand still and prolong the day that he 
might complete the victory. A similar combination in the 
north was likewise utterly routed at the waters of Merom. 
In about six years the conquest of the entire land was 
effected. Josh. xi. 18 ; comp. xiv. 7-10. 

The territory west of the Jordan was then divided by 
lot among nine tribes and a half, and the two tribes and 
a half which had a portion assigned them by Moses east 
of the Jordan returned to their inheritance. Joshua died 
one hundred and ten years old, and, according to Josephus ? 
twenty-five years after the crossing of the Jordan, having 
first assembled the tribes at Shechem and solemnly bound 
them to the service of the Lord. 

3. The people were now organized under the laws given 
them by Moses, and put in possession of the land conquered 
by Joshua. But their civil organization had not yet attained 
its complete and final form, and the conquest of the land 
was not thoroughly perfected. Much was left to be done 
by each of the tribes in its own domain, in the further sub- 
jugation or extermination of their foes ; and this in their 
divided state it was difficult, if not impossible, to accom- 
plish, particularly as in their repeated relapses from God 
they were deprived of his aid and given over to the power 
of their enemies. In their times of distress, however, they 
repented, and God raised up special leaders or judges for 
their deliverance. 

They were thus oppressed eight years by Chushan-rish- 
athaim, king of Mesopotamia, and rescued by Othniel ; then 
eighteen years by Eglon, king of Moab, who was slain, and 
Israel delivered by Ehud ; again, twenty years by Jabin, 
king of Hazor, the captain of whose host, Sisera, was de- 
feated by Deborah and Barak, and slain by Jael, the wife 
of Heber the Kenite ; again, seven years by Midian, whose 
immense host was discomfited by Gideon with three hun- 
dred men. Gideon's son, Abimelech, slew his brothers and 



116 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

had himself made king of Shechem, but was himself slain 
in the disturbances that arose at the end of his brief reign 
of three years. The children of Israel east of the Jordan 
were oppressed by the Ammonites eighteen years (Judg. 
x. 8), but were delivered by Jephthah the Gileadite, who 
vowed that if the Lord would give him the victory, whatso- 
ever came forth from the doors of his house to meet him on 
his return should surely be the Lord's, and he would offer 
it up for a burnt-offering. As he came back victorious, his 
daughter, who was his only child, met him with timbrels 
and dances, and he did with her according to his vow. The 
Philistines in the west oppressed Israel forty years. A cham- 
pion was raised up from the tribe of Dan in the person of 
Samson to begin the work of deliverance. His birth was 
foretold by the angel of the Lord, who directed that he 
should be a perpetual Nazarite, and that no razor should 
ever come upon his head. Num. vi. 5. As long as he was 
faithful to the sacred obligation thus enjoined God endowed 
him with superhuman strength, which he employed in mo- 
lesting or destroying the Philistines. He judged Israel 
twenty years. Other judges whose names are mentioned, 
but of whom little is. known, are Tola (x. 1), Jair (x. 3), 
Ibzan (xii. 10), Elon (xii. 11) and Abdon (xii. 13), mak- 
ing, with Eli (1 Sam. iv. 18), the entire number of judges to 
be twelve. 

The terms of these twelve judges, together with the peri- 
ods of oppression and rest mentioned in the book of Judges, 
amount to 450 years, as stated Acts xiii. 20. But as the 
entire interval from the exodus to the building of Solomon's 
temple was but 480 years, all of these periods cannot have 
been successive. Different judges may have ruled or dif- 
ferent oppressors may have held sway in different parts of 
the land at the same time. The opposite phases of this 
period are pictured in the turbulent lawlessness of the Dan- 
ite band (ch. xviii.) and of the men of Gibeah (xix. 22), on 



BIBLE HISTORY. 117 

the one hand, and the charming piety and peaceful domes- 
tic life of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, the ancestors of David, 
on the other. 

4. The times of the judges had been marked by three 
great evils, viz., declension in religion, want of unity among 
the tribes and weakness before their foes. There was press- 
ing need of a religious reformation, a strong central gov- 
ernment and victory over their enemies. To accomplish 
these ends three remarkable men were raised up, Samuel, 
Saul and David. Samuel, the son of Hannah and Elka- 
nah, was the child of prayer (1 Sam. i. 27, 28), and was 
consecrated from his childhood to minister before Eli, the 
priest of the sanctuary, in Shiloh (ii. 11), where God early 
revealed himself to him. ch. iii. The Philistines gained 
a great victory over Israel, slew the degenerate sons of Eli, 
Hophni and Phinehas, and captured the ark of God. But 
their idol Dagon fell and w T as broken before it, and plagues 
were sent upon their cities, so that at the end of seven 
months they were forced to send it back to the land of 
Israel, where it remained in obscurity at Kirjath-jearim 
until the reign of David. Samuel now induced the people 
to put away their strange gods ; and gathering them to Miz- 
peh for penitent humiliation before the Lord and return to 
his service, he there discomfited the Philistines, breaking 
their pow r er completely for a time. vii. 13. Samuel was not 
only himself a distinguished prophet of the Lord, but the 
founder of a company of prophets (x. 5 ; xix. 20) or com- 
munity of inspired men, associated under his superintend- 
ence to oppose the prevailing corruption ; and though occa- 
sional messages had been sent by men of God before (1 Sam. 
ii. 27 ; iii. 1), he may be said to have been the first of that 
continuous line of prophets which, varying greatly in num- 
bers from time to time, never entirely ceased until the close 
of the Old Testament (Acts iii. 24), and in which we see 
the preliminary fulfillment of the promise made through 



118 PREPARING TO TEACH, 

Moses. Deut. xviii. 15. As the special messenger of God 
he also assumed the right both to supersede the degenerate 
priesthood for the time, offering sacrifices himself, though 
not one of the family of Aaron, and to exercise the highest 
civil authority by acting as judge. 

His sons not walking in his ways, the elders of Israel so- 
licited the appointment of a king. 1 Sam. viii. 5. Samuel 
rightly saw in this request that they might be "like all the 
nations" a want of confidence in the Lord who was their 
King. x. 19 ; xii. 12. Although it was the divine intention 
that Israel should have a kingly government, and express 
provision had been made for it in the law of Moses (Deut. 
xvii. 14), nevertheless, in the form in which the request was 
made and in the disposition of those making it, it was a 
virtual rejection of the Lord from reigning over them. 
1 Sam. viii. 7. The Lord accedes to their request, but suffers 
them in the first instance to experience in Saul what it is to 
have a king without him, before he bestows upon them in 
David a king after his own heart. Saul was first anointed 
privately by Samuel (x. 1) and then chosen by lot at Miz- 
peh. x. 21. His assumption of royalty was signalized by 
a victory over the Ammonites, wdiich at once gained him 
the hearts of the people. In his second year Saul renewed 
the war against the Philistines, who assembled an immense 
host. The men of Israel were scattering from Saul, some 
hiding, some fleeing, and the few that followed him were trem- 
bling. As Samuel failed to reach Gilgal at the appointed 
time, Saul offered the sacrifice himself, and for his presump- 
tion in so doing was rebuked by Samuel and threatened 
with the forfeiture of his kingdom. Saul's men were now. 
reduced to six hundred. His son, Jonathan, and his armor- 
bearer, adventuring upon the garrison of the Philistines 
alone, created a panic, which finally grew into an utter rout. 
Saul was likewise victorious over Moab, Ammon, Edom and 
other foes, and was sent against the Amalekites with the 



BIBLE HISTORY. 119 

charge that he should utterly destroy them. But he spared 
their king and the chief of the spoil, for which fresh act 
of disobedience Samuel plainly told him that the kingdom 
should be rent from him and given to another. 

Samuel accordingly anointed David, the youngest son of 
Jesse the Bethlehemite, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon 
David and departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the 
Lord troubled him. David, being a skillful player on the 
harp, was sent for to relieve his gloom, but his slaying Goliath 
and the popular rejoicing over that event awakened Saul's 
jealousy, so that he sought his life. He threw his javelin 
at him to kill him ; he gave him a position in the army, hop- 
ing that he might fall in battle, but this only gave David an 
opportunity to distinguish himself still more. Saul married 
his daughter to him that he might more easily ensnare him ; 
he sent assassins to his house to kill him ; he massacred the 
priests because one of their number had furnished him sup- 
plies ; he pursued him with an armed force into the wilder- 
ness and mountain fastnesses, where David was repeatedly in 
imminent danger of being captured, but escaped by provi- 
dential interposition. Twice he had Saul in his power and 
magnanimously spared his life, but the softening effect upon 
the king w 7 as only temporary. At length David was obliged 
to flee to the Philistines and put himself under the protection 
of Achish, king of Gath, where he was when Saul perished 
with his three sons in the disastrous battle with the Philis- 
tines at Mount Gilboa. 

David was now made king over Judah in Hebron, where 
he reigned seven years and six months. The remaining 
tribes attached themselves to Ishbosbeth, the son of Saul, 
who was king in Mahanaim, and reigned there tw T o years. 
After his murder all the tribes submitted to David, who 
captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites and established his 
capital there, and had the ark of the Lord brought thither 
from Kirjath-jearim with great pomp. It was his purpose 



120 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

to have built a temple, but this was reserved for his son, 
Solomon. He, however, gathered abundant materials and 
resources for the work in his numerous wars, in which he 
was everywhere successful against foreign foes. He also 
prepared its plan (1 Chron. xxviii. 11, 12) and designated its 
site (1 Chron. xxii. 1), which he purchased from Araunah the 
Jebusite, and where he offered an accepted sacrifice in time 
of pestilence. His care for the sanctuary was further 
shown by his division of the priests into regular courses 
(1 Chron. xxiv. 3, ff.), by his arrangements for musical per- 
formance (1 Chron. xxv.), and by his composition of those 
Psalms which earned him the name of the " sweet Psalmist 
of Israel." 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. 

The great stain upon David's life is the affair of Bath- 
sheba, whom he took for his own wife, having procured the 
death of her husband, Uriah, in battle. 2 Sam. xi. 14, 15. 
From this time he was visited by the most serious domestic 
calamities — the death of his infant child (xii. 16, ff.), the 
disgrace of his daughter Tamar (xiii. 19), the murder of his 
son Amnon by Absalom (xiii. 28, 29), and the rebellion of 
Absalom (xv. 10), during which he was forced to flee from 
Jerusalem and seek refuge beyond Jordan. In the battle 
that ensued Absalom was slain ; but a quarrel arising be- 
tween Judah and the other tribes respecting the restoration 
of the king to his capital, a fresh revolt followed under 
Sheba, son of Bichri, which was speedily quelled and Sheba 
slain. In his later years his son Adonijah sought to seize 
upon the kingdom (1 Kings i. 5, ff.), but by David's direc- 
tion Solomon was anointed king and established upon his 
throne. 

David died in the fortieth year of his reign (1 Kings 
ii. 11), leaving the kingdom at the summit of its prosperity 
and power. 



BIBLE HISTORY. 121 



LESSON III. 



FROM THE DEATH OF DAVID TO THE BIRTH OF 
CHRIST. 

The reign of Solomon was one of peaceful splendor, and 
contrasts strongly with the numerous wars of his father. 
It presents a type of the kingdom of Christ in its extensive 
sway and prosperous abundance (Ps. lxxii.), as the reign of 
David does of its victories and of its triumphing over all 
opposition. Ps. ii. When offered by the Lord his choice 
of blessings, at the beginning of his reign, Solomon chose 
an understanding heart ; and the Lord gave him the wis- 
dom for which he asked, and added to it riches and honor. 
His most noted enterprise was the building of the temple, 
which was begun in his fourth year, and finished in seven 
years. At its dedication, which was celebrated with much 
pomp, the cloud of the divine glory filled the house so that 
the priests could not stand to minister because of it. He 
also built a palace for himself, which he was thirteen years 
in erecting, and numerous other structures, upon a scale of 
lavish magnificence. 1 Kings vii. 2, if.; ix. 17, ff. This vast 
expenditure was provided for in part by the treasures accu- 
mulated by his father and by his lucrative foreign trade (ix. 
26 ; x. 21-27), but it likewise imposed oppressive burdens 
upon the people. He also contracted numerous marriages 
with foreign princesses (xi. 1), who led him into idolatry 
in his later years. 

After a reign of forty years, Solomon was succeeded by 
his son Eehoboam, whose insane refusal to lighten the exac- 
tions imposed by his father led to the permanent division of 
the kingdom. Ten tribes rebelled against the house of 
David and chose Jeroboam king, so that from this time for- 
ward there were the two rival, and commonly hostile, king- 
doms of Israel and Judah. 

The kingdom of Israel, or of the ten tribes, continued 
ii 



122 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

two hundred and fifty-four years from the schism of Jero- 
boam, B. C. 975, to its overthrow by Shalmaneser, king of 
Assyria, B. C. 721. Twenty persons in all sat upon the 
throne, or were aspirants to it. 

1. Jeroboam I., the son of Nebat, who reigned twenty- 
two years; 2. his son, Nadab, two years; 3. conspired 
against by Baasha, twenty-four years; 4. his son, Elah, 
two years; 5. conspired against by Zimri, seven days; 
rival aspirants, 6. Tibni, who was defeated, and 7. Omri, 
the choice of the army, who was successful, twelve years ; 
8. his son, Ahab, twenty-two years ; 9. his sons, Ahaziah, 
two years, and 10. Jehoram, twelve years ; 11. Jehu, 
anointed by divine command, twenty years ; 12. his son, 
Jehoahaz, seventeen years; 13. his son, Joash, sixteen years ; 
14. his son, Jeroboam II., forty-one years ; 15. his son, 
Zachariah, six months ; 16. conspired against by Shallum, 
one month; 17. conspired against by Menahem, ten years; 
18. his son, Pekahiah, two years; 19. conspired against by 
Pekah, twenty years; 20. conspired against by Hoshea, 
nine years. There seems also to have been an interregnum 
or period of anarchy after Jeroboam II., and another after 
Pekah. Eight kings reached the throne by successful con- 
spiracy and slaying their predecessors. The crown was in 
but two instances transmitted from father to son beyond a 
single generation, viz., by Omri to the second generation, 
and by Jehu to the fourth, as had been particularly pre- 
dicted. 2 Kings x. 30. All these kings were wicked, follow- 
ing as they did in the track of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, 
who made Israel to sin by establishing the worship of the 
golden calves at Bethel and at Dan to prevent the people 
from going up to Jerusalem to worship and so coming again 
under the dominion of the house of David. This was not 
an open renunciation of the worship of Jehovah, but the 
calves were set up professedly as symbols of the God who 
had brought them out of the land of Egypt. 1 Kings xii. 28. 



BIBLE HISTORY. 123 

The allusions in the prophets show that the annual feasts, 
new moons, Sabbaths, legal sacrifices and other Mosaic reg- 
ulations (Hos. ii. 11) remained in full force ; only the time 
of the feast of tabernacles was changed from the seventh 
to the eighth month, and priests were ordained, not from the 
tribe of Levi, but from the lowest of the people, vs. 31, 32. 

The worst of all the kings was Ahab, the son of Omri, 
the builder of Samaria, who with his wife Jezebel, the 
daughter of the king of the Zidonians, introduced the 
open and avowed worship of heathen divinities, Baal and 
Ashtaroth, put to death the prophets of the Lord and per- 
petrated other deeds of violence and oppression, as the 
murder of Naboth in order that they might seize upon his 
vineyard, though even in this time of the grossest apos- 
tasy there was a pious Obadiah in the very palace (1 Kings 
xviii. 3), and there were seven thousand who had not bowed 
the knee unto Baal. xix. 18. Elijah was sent repeatedly 
to confront Ahab, and by the predicted drought, and the 
miracle at Carmel of fire from heaven consuming the sac- 
rifice, began a reaction. Ahab was slain in battle at 
Ramoth-gilead. His son Jehoram (2 Kings iii. 2) removed 
the image of Baal ; and Baal- worship was entirely extir- 
pated by 'Jehu (x. 18, ff.), though the worship of the calves 
remained. Elisha succeeded Elijah after his translation with 
a like ministry of power. Communities of sons or pupils 
of the prophets were established at such seats of idolatry 
as Bethel, Jericho and Gilgal. The prophets Hosea, Amos 
and Jonah w 7 ere raised up in the reign of. Jeroboam II., 
under whom the ten tribes reached their highest prosperity 
and power, but they were unable to turn back the tide of 
corruption or to effect a genuine reformation, and the king- 
dom hastened to its downfall. 

Israel had been repeatedly and sorely pressed by the 
Syrians, particularly in the reigns of Ahab (1 Kings, ch. 
xx.), Jehoram (2 Kings vi. 24, ff.) and Jehoahaz. 2 Kings 



124 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

xiii. 3. In the reign of Menahem we first read of the ad- 
vance of the Assyrians under Pul (2 Kings xv. 19) ; in the 
reign of Pekah, Tiglath-pileser carried captive the northern 
portion of the kingdom and all that lay east of the Jordan. 
2 Kings xv. 29 ; 1 Chron. v. 26. Shalmaneser, after besieg- 
ing Samaria three years, put an end to the kingdom entirely 
in the ninth year of Hoshea, and the people were carried 
into Assyria ; and the finishing stroke was put to its desola- 
tion by the subsequent introduction of heathen colonists (2 
Kings xvii. 24), from whom the Samaritans of a later pe- 
riod were descended. 

The kingdom of Judah lasted three hundred and eighty- 
seven years from the schism to its overthrow by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, B. C. 588. The number of monarchs in this as in 
the other kingdom was twenty, viz. : 1. Rehoboam, who 
reigned seventeen years ; 2. Abijah, three years ; 3. Asa, 
forty-one years ; 4. Jehoshaphat, twenty-five years ; 5. Jeho- 
ram, eight years ; 6. Ahaziah, one year ; 7. Athaliah, six 
years; 8. Joash, forty years; 9. Amaziah, twenty-nine 
years; 10. Azariah, also called Uzziah, fifty-two years ; 11. 
Jotham, sixteen years ; 12. Ahaz, sixteen years ; 13. Heze- 
kiah, twenty-nine years ; 14. Manasseh, fifty-five years; 15. 
Anion, two years ; 16. Josiah, thirty-one years ; 17. Jehoahaz, 
three months; 18. Jehoiakim, eleven years ; 19. Jehoiachin, 
three months and ten days ; 20. Zedekiah, eleven years. 

The crown descended regularly throughout the whole line 
from father to son with the exception, first, of the usurpa- 
tion of Queen Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, who seized 
the throne upon the death of her son Ahaziah and sought to 
destroy all the blood royal. Joash was saved from the mas- 
sacre, however, and after being concealed for six years in 
the house of the Lord by the high priest Jehoiada was made 
king, and Athaliah slain. The other exception is that of 
the last four kings ; three — viz., Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and 
Zedekiah — were brothers, the sons of Josiah. Of the 



BIBLE HISTORY. 125 

kings of Judah, three fell victims to conspiracies among 
their own subjects, viz., Joash, Amaziah and Amon ; three 
died in captivity, Jehoahaz in Egypt, Jehoiakim and Zede- 
kiah in Babylon. Ahaziah was slain by Jehu, king of 
Israel, and Josiah fell in the battle of Megiddo, fighting 
against Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt. 

In point of character the kings of Judah are divided into 
three classes ; first, four who are commended as having 
done that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did 
David their father, viz., Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and 
Josiah ; secondly, four who did that which was right in the 
sight of the Lord, yet not like David their father, viz., 
Joash, Amaziah, L^zziah and Jotham ; thirdly, all the rest 
did evil in the sight of the Lord, practicing idolatry and 
the abominations of the heathen. Kemarkable instances 
of change for the better and the worse are afforded by the 
case of Manasseh, who, after practicing the grossest idolatry 
and the most revolting cruelty, repented in captivity and 
at his restoration began to act the part of a reformer ; and 
by that of Joash, who did that which was right in the sight 
of the Lord while Jehoiada, the high priest, lived, but after- 
ward fell into the practice of idolatry. In point of politi- 
cal wisdom and prosperity, the best reigns were not uni- 
formly those of the best kings. This double honor be- 
longs, it is true, to Asa and his son Jehoshaphat, but the 
reign of the pious Hezekiah was marred by great defects 
and errors of a worldly nature, and in this respect was 
greatly inferior to those of his grandfather Jotham and his 
great-grandfather L^zziah, who were morally far below him. 
The reign of Ahaz was at once the weakest and the worst, 
if we except the four with which the history concludes, and 
during which the power was really exercised by foreign 
states. 

Apostasy was inherent in the very existence of the king- 
dom of Israel, but it was not so in Judah. Though idolatry 
11* 



126 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

was encouraged in all the ungodly reigns, and Ah az( 2 Kings 
xvi. 10, ff.) and Manasseh (2 Kings xxi.4, ff.) especially pro- 
faned the temple of God itself by setting up heathen altars or 
objects of worship within its sacred precincts, yet upon every 
return of pious princes to the throne a reformation was 
wrought more or less thorough and effective, and the temple 
was cleansed, repaired and restored to its legitimate use. 
Thus by Asa (2 Chron. xiv. 8, 16), Joash (2 Chron. xxiii. 17 ; 
xxiv. 4), Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix. 3) and Josiah (2 Chron. 
xxxiv. 3, 8), under the last of whom mention is made of 
finding in the temple, after long neglect, " the book of the 
law ' ? (verse 15), probably the identical copy in the hand- 
writing of Moses which had been delivered by him to the 
Levites for safekeeping, and had from that time forward 
been preserved in the sanctuary. And though the ser- 
vility of the priesthood to wicked rulers is shown in the 
case of Urijah (2 Kings xiv. 16), and the transgressions 
of the priests (2 Chron. xxxvi. 14) contributed to the down- 
fall of the kingdom, there are noble instances in which 
their power for good w T as shown, as in Jehoiada during the 
usurpation of Athaliah and the former part of the reign 
of Joash (2 Chron. xxiii. 16 ; xxiv. 2), and in Azariah and 
his associates, who withstood Uzziah in his profane in- 
trusion into the temple to burn incense. 2 Chron xxvi. 16, ff. 
There was a continuous line of prophets, also, not so re 
markably endowed as Elijah and Elisha with miraculous 
power, for w T hich there was not so imperative a call, yet ever 
appearing at important crises and exerting a constant in- 
fluence for good, as Shemaiah under Rehoboam (2 Chron xii. 
5) ; Azariah under Asa (xiv. 1) ; Jehu (xix. 2), Jahaziel (xx. 
14) and Eliezer (verse 37) under Jehoshaphat; Isaiah (Isa, i. 
1) under Uzziah and his successors. Yet their messages were 
frequently neglected (2 Chron. xxiv. 9), and the prophets 
themselves w 7 ere sometimes subjected to personal ill-treat- 
ment, as Hanani was imprisoned by Asa (2 Chron. xvi. 



BIBLE HISTORY. 127 

10) ; Zeehariah was stoned in the court of the temple (xxiv. 
20) ; Urijah was put to death by order of Jehoiakim (Jer. 
xxvi. 20-24), and Jeremiah was beaten and put in the stocks 
(Jer. xx. 2), thrust into a filthy dungeon (Jer. xxxviii. 6), his 
life repeatedly threatened (Jer. xxvi. 8 ; xxxvi. 26), and he 
was in prison at the time of the capture of Jerusalem by 
Nebuchadnezzar. Jer. xxxix. 14. 

Shishak, king of Egypt, invaded Judah in the reign of 
Rehoboam, and plundered the temple as well as the palace 
of the king. 1 Kings xiv. 25. Under Asa, Zerah the 
Ethiopian, with his immense host, was defeated (2 Chron. 
xiv. 9, ff.), as was the formidable combination of Moab, Am- 
nion and others, under Jehoshaphat. 2 Chron. xx. Up to 
the time of Jehoshaphat there had been constant war be- 
tween Judah and Israel. 1 Kings xxii. 44. His ill-judged 
and disastrous alliance with Ahab resulted in the marriage 
of his son Jehoram with Ahab's daughter (2 Chron. xxi. 6) 
and all the consequences of that vicious association. Un- 
der Amaziah we again find a state of hostility existing and 
Judah worsted before Israel. 2 Kings xiv. 12. Asa had 
hired Benhadad, king of Syria, to attack Israel in the in- 
terest of Judah (2 Chron. xvi. 2), and Joash had purchased 
peace from Hazael of Syria at great cost. 2 Kings xii. 17, 
18. But in the reign of Ahaz, Rezin of Syria and Pekah 
of Israel united their forces against Judah, and created such 
alarm (2 Kings xvi. 5 ; Isa. vii. 2) that, in spite of the re- 
monstrances of Isaiah, the weak-minded monarch besought 
the aid of Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria. That ambitious 
power, having accomplished the overthrow of the kingdom 
of Israel, directed its designs against Judah, and Sennach- 
erib came up with an immense host against Hezekiah, but 
was miraculously overthrown. 2 Kings xix. 35. Hezekiah, 
being congratulated by the king of Babylon on his recovery 
from sickness, was guilty of the vanity and imprudence of 
exhibiting all his treasures, whereupon he was warned by 



128 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

the prophet Isaiah that they should all be carried captive 
to Babylon. 2 Kings xx. 12, ff. Palestine, lying, as it did, 
between Babylon and Egypt, was alternately the prey of each 
of these great powers, who were contesting the empire of the 
world. Josiah was slain in a battle with Pharaoh-necho. 
2 Kings xxiii. 29. His son Jehoaha2 was carried captive 
into Egypt. In the third year of Jehoiakira, Nebuchadnez- 
zar, king of Babylon, marched against Jerusalem, taking 
it in his fourth year, and carrying away many captives, 
Daniel among the rest. Dan. i. 1. It is from this first de- 
portation, B.C. 606, that the seventy years of captivity pre- 
dicted by Jeremiah (Jer. xxv. 1, 11) are to be computed. 
The second deportation put an end to the reign of King Jeho- 
iachin, who was carried into captivity, together with many of 
the better portion of the people. 2 Kings xxiv. 12. Jeru- 
salem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in the eleventh 
year of Zedekiah, and the mass of its inhabitants were led 
away into exile. The wretched remnant that stayed be- 
hind in the land of Judah were placed under the govern- 
ment of Gedaliah, and after his murder they removed into 
Egypt. 

Cyrus, king of Persia, the conqueror of Babylon, issued 
an edict in the first year of his reign, B. C. 536, permitting 
the Jewish exiles to return to their own land. Accordingly, 
42,000 of them returned under Zerubbabel, a prince of the 
house of David, and Joshua, the high priest. After many 
hindrances, they completed the building of the temple in 
the sixth year of Darius, B. C. 516. Jerusalem still lay in 
ruins, however, and its walls were not rebuilt until Ezra, 
and after him Nehemiah, came up with fresh colonists in the 
reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus. The incidents recorded in 
the book of Esther took place in the reign of Ahasuerus 
(Esth. i. 1), otherwise kno*wn as Xerxes, the son of Darius. 

The Persian monarchy was overthrown by Alexander the 
Great, who was personally favorable to the Jews. On the 



BIBLE HISTORY. 129 

partition of his empire Palestine fell under the control of 
the Ptolemies of Egypt, who granted the Jews many priv- 
ileges and protected them in the exercise of their religion. 
After many fluctuations, it was finally subjected to the king 
of Syria, who treated the Jews with great severity. An- 
tiochus Epiphanes, in particular, plundered and polluted the 
temple, and endeavored by the most cruel atrocities to com- 
pel the Jews to adopt heathen customs and to engage in 
heathen rites. Mattathias raised the standard of revolt, 
and under his leadership and that of his noble sons Judas 
Maccabeus, Jonathan and Simon, the Jews contended suc- 
cessfully against the armies of Antiochus. 

After cleansing the sanctuary and building a new altar, 
the first sacrifice was offered on the twenty-fifth day of the 
ninth month, Chisleu, B. C. 165, just three years after its pro- 
fanation. In memory of that event the feast of dedication 
(John x. 22) was observed upon the anniversary of this day 
and the seven following days. 

Simon was succeeded by his son John Hyrcanus, and he 
by his son Aristobulus, B. C. 106. Dissensions arising among 
his descendants relative to the succession, the Romans, under 
Pompey, entered Jerusalem, B. C. 63, and established Hyr- 
canus II., the grandson of Aristobulus, in supreme authority. 
Under his weak government the Idumean Antipater rose to 
power, and was by Julius Caesar advanced to the dignity of 
procurator of Judea, B. C. 47. His son Herod the Great 
was made king of Judea by the order of the Roman senate, 
B. C. 40. Under his reign Christ was born. 



130 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

LESSON IV. 
THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 

The prophet Isaiah announces (xl. 3), a voice crying in 
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. And 
Malachi (iii. 1 ; iv. 5) predicts the mission of Elijah the 
prophet as a messenger to prepare the way before the Lord 
at his coming. This forerunner was the son of a priest 
named Zacharias, who lived in the days of Herod the king, 
and whose wife's name was Elizabeth. As he was burning 
incense in the temple an angel appeared to him and said, 
"Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt 
call his name John ; and he shall be filled with the Holy 
Ghost, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to 
the Lord their God, and he shall go before him in the spirit 
and power of Elias (or Elijah) to make ready a people 
prepared for the Lord." 

Six months later the angel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth, 
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the 
house of David ; and the virgin's name was Mary. And 
the angel said unto her "Fear not, Mary; for thou hast 
found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive 
and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He 
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest ; 
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his 
father David, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." 

A decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should 
be taxed required Joseph to go with Mary to Bethlehem, 
his ancestral city. There Jesus was born, and was laid 
in a manger, because there was no room for them in the 
inn. His birth was announced by an angel to the shep- 
herds, when suddenly a multitude of the heavenly host 
were heard praising God and saying, " Glory to God in the 
highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men." When 



BIBLE HISTORY. 131 

presented in the temple in his infancy, he was recognized as 
the Lord's Christ by the aged Simeon and the prophetess 
Anna. Wise men from the east also came seeking him 
who was born King of the Jews. Herod, startled by their 
inquiry, sent them to Bethlehem, the predicted place of the 
Saviour's birth (Mic. v. 2), charging them to return when 
they had found the infant king, and tell him, that he might 
come and worship him also. But being warned of God in 
a dream, they departed into their own country another way. 
Joseph was likewise warned to take the young child and his 
mother and flee into Egypt. Herod, finding that he was 
mocked of the wise men, sent forth t and slew all the chil- 
dren in Bethlehem from two years old and under. After 
the death of Herod the parents of Jesus brought him to 
Nazareth. When he was twelve years old, he was taken to 
Jerusalem, to the passover ; and lingering behind when his 
parents returned, he was found in the temple, sitting in the 
midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them 
questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his 
understanding and answers. 

In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Csesar, the successor of 
Augustus, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod 
Antipas, son of Herod the Great, being tetrarch of Galilee, 
and Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, John the 
Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, Repent 
ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Great multi- 
tudes from all quarters flocked to hear him, and were bap- 
tized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. Jesus also, 
being now thirty years of age, came from Nazareth, and was 
baptized, whereupon the heavens opened and the Spirit of 
God descended upon him like a dove, and there came 
a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased. 

He was then led up by the Spirit into the wilderness, 
where he fasted forty days and forty nights, and was tempted 



132 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

of the devil. Soon after, his first disciples attached them- 
selves to him, John the Baptist pointing him out as the 
Lamb of God to two of his own disciples, one of whom was 
Andrew and the other probably the apostle John ; they 
both followed Jesus. Andrew brought his brother Simon 
Peter to Jesus, and the next day Philip and Nathanael were 
added. On the day following he wrought his first miracle 
at a marriage in Cana of Galilee, changing water into wine. 
As the passover was at hand, he went up to Jerusalem, and 
with a scourge of small cords drove out of the temple those 
that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of 
money. And many believed in his name when they saw 
the miracles that he did. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, 
came to him by night, convinced that he was a teacher sent 
from God. As he taught in Judea, and his disciples bap- 
tized, such crowds resorted to him as to awaken the jeal- 
ousy of John's disciples. But John replied, I am not the 
Christ, but one sent before him ; he must increase, but I 
must decrease. 

John the Baptist being seized by Herod and cast into 
prison, Jesus departed into Galilee, passing through Samaria 
on the way. Here he conversed with the Samaritan woman 
as he sat wearied by the well of Jacob, convincing both her 
and many who lived in Sychar that he w r as indeed the 
Christ, the Saviour of the w T orld. Arriving at Cana of 
Galilee, he healed the son of a nobleman who lay sick at 
Capernaum. In the synagogue at Nazareth he announced 
himself as the Saviour predicted by Isaiah, but was so vio- 
lently treated that he fixed his residence at Capernaum. He 
now formally called Simon Peter and Andrew, James and 
John, who were engaged in their occupation as fishermen, to 
permanent discipleship, promising them that they should be 
fishers of men, and by a miraculous draught of fishes as- 
suring them of the abundant success which would be di- 
vinely granted to them in their new vocation. Matthew wa3 



BIBLE HISTORY. 133 

also called from the receipt of custom. He now proceeded 
to exhibit himself as the healer of all human disorders 
and the conqueror of Satan in Capernaum and throughout 
all Galilee, over which he made a complete tour, teaching 
and preaching, curing the sick and casting out devils. This 
first year of his ministry was one of unbounded popularity, 
great multitudes even from remote parts attending him 
wherever he went, so that on one occasion those who sought 
his healing could only reach him by uncovering the 
roof where he was and letting down the sick man in his 
bed. At length, to escape the crowds, he was forced to re- 
main outside the city in desert places, but even then they 
came to him from every quarter. There were, however, 
some who cherished thoughts which they did not venture 
to express, as though he were guilty of blasphemy in 
claiming the power to forgive sins. Matt. ix. 3. 

At the next passover Jesus was again in Jerusalem, and 
healed the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, bidding 
him take up his bed and walk, though it was the Sabbath. 
This profanation, as it was regarded, of this sacred day, oc- 
curring in the very centre of pharisaic influence and au- 
thority, gave occasion for an outburst of hostility against a 
teacher whose extraordinary popularity excited their jeal- 
ousy, and whose spiritual instructions were at variance with 
their most cherished ideas. Therefore did the Jews persecute 
Jesus and sought to slay him. The opposition which had 
taken such a malignant form at the capital did not fail to 
show itself likewise in Galilee, and opportunities were 
soon afforded by his disciples plucking ears of corn on the 
Sabbath, and his healing a man with a withered hand in 
one of the synagogues, by his withering exposures of their 
hypocrisy and wickedness (Luke xi. 39), by his suffering a 
sinner to wash and kiss his feet and anoint them (Luke vii. 
38), and even sitting at meat with publicans and sinners in 
Matthew's house (Matt. ix. 11), so that the Pharisees took 

12 



134 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy him. 
Mark iii. 6. They applied opprobrious epithets to him 
(Matt. xi. 19) ; they attributed his miracles to satanic influ- 
ence (Matt. xii. 24) ; they tempted him by demanding signs 
from heaven (Matt. xii. 38) ; they pressed him with ensnar- 
ing questions. Luke xi. 53, 54. He was not, however, de- 
terred from continuing his ministry. He organized his dis- 
ciples by selecting the twelve apostles, and in the sermon on 
the mount made explicit announcement of the laws of his 
kingdom. He went twice with his apostles through all the 
towns and villages of Galilee (Luke viii. 1 ; Matt. ix. 35), 
and then clothed the apostles with miraculous pow- 
ers, and sent them forth to preach that the kingdom of 
heaven was at hand. Matt. x. 5 ; xi. 1. His miracles were 
now more striking than before. He cured a man who had 
had an infirmity thirty and eight years (John v. 5), and a 
woman sick for twelve years, whom the physicians could not 
heal (Mark v. 25, 26), aud fierce demoniacs whom no man 
could tame (Mark v. 2, if.), and the blind and the dumb 
(Matt. ix. 27, ff.), and raised from the dead the daughter of 
Jairus (Mark v. 42) and the son of the widow at Nain 
(Luke vii. 15), and stilled the storm (Luke viii. 24), and 
walked on the sea (Matt. xiv. 25), and fed five thousand 
men with five loaves and two fishes. Matt. xiv. 20. 

Our Lord's instructions bear, to some extent, the impress 
of the opposition that he now encounters. In healing the 
centurion's servant at Capernaum, he contrasts the faith of 
this Gentile with the want of it in Israel, and intimates the 
calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews. 
That generation refused both John the Baptist's instructions 
and his own. Matt. xi. 16, ff. He upbraids Chorazin, Beth- 
saida and Capernaum because they repented not. He 
warns his hearers that Nineveh and the queen of the South 
shall condemn them in the judgment, and that the blood 
of all the prophets shall be required of that generation. 



BIBLE HISTORY. 135 

He tells his disciples of the persecutions they must expect, 
but bids them not to fear them who can only kill the body. 
The parables of the barren fig tree (Luke xiii. 6), the sower 
(Matt. xiii. 3, ff.), the tares (v. 24, ff.) and the net (v. 47) 
show the different reception of the gospel by different classes 
of hearers, while those of the mustard seed (v. 31) and 
the leaven (v. 33) declare the certainty of its progress and 
ultimate triumph. That his popularity wdth the masses had 
not abated, appears from the frequent references to the 
crowds that still gathered to hear him (Matt. v. 1 ; xiii. 2 ; 
xiv. 13 ; Luke xii. 1), and the disposition of the people to 
make him a king (John vi. 15), even though the inhabitants 
of Nazareth were offended at his humble origin. Matt. xiii. 
57. His true followers believed, and were sure that he 
w r as Christ, the Son of the living God, though many of his 
disciples went back and w r alked no more with him. Johnvi. 
66, ff. The murderous disposition of the Jews at Jerusalem 
w 7 as such, however, that he did not go up to the next pass- 
over. John vi. 4 ; vii. 1. 

The next year, which is the last of our Lord's ministry, 
extending to the passover at which he suffered, is divided 
by the feast of tabernacles, when he again visited Jerusa- 
lem. The six months preceding this feast were spent in 
Galilee, which he then leaves, and does not again revisit. 
During this time he gives further offence to the Pharisees 
by exposing the variance between their traditions and the 
law of God (Matt. xv. 3), but continues his teaching and 
miracles, healing great numbers (Matt. xv. 30), feeding 
the four thousand (v. 38), and especially suggesting again 
the extension of the gospel beyond the limits of the chosen 
people by curing the daughter of the Syrophenician woman 
in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon (Matt. xv. 21, ff), and the 
ten lepers, of whom the only one who returned to give thanks 
to God was a Samaritan. Luke xvii. 18. The disciples, 
through Peter, having again solemnly professed their faith 



136 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

in him as the Christ (Matt. xvi. 16), he began from that 
time forth to show unto them how that he must go to 
Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief 
priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the 
third day. Matt. xvi. 21. He had made enigmatical al- 
lusions to this before, at the very beginning of his ministry, 
speaking to the Jews at his first passover in Jerusalem of 
the temple of his body, which they would destroy and he 
would raise up in three days (John ii. 19), and to Nieode- 
mus of the Son of man being lifted up like the serpent in 
the wilderness (John iii. 14), and in the synagogue at Ca- 
pernaum two years later of his giving his flesh for the life 
of the world. John vi. 51. But he now speaks of this sub- 
ject plainly and more than once (Matt. xvii. 22, 23), and 
tells his disciples that they too must take up their cross and 
follow after him, expectant of the reward which they shall 
have when the Son of man shall come in the glory of his 
Father. Matt. xvi. 24, 27. He further confirms them by 
the vision of his transfiguration (Matt. xvii. 1, ff.), and of 
Moses and Elias speaking of his decease which he should 
accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke ix. 31,) teaching them 
their need of stronger faith by healing a demoniac whom 
they could not cure (Matt. xvii. 19), and of the humility 
of a little child (Matt, xviii. 3), and of tender (v. 14) and 
forgiving love (v. 22), and rebuking the zeal which would 
forbid others casting out devils in his name (Luke ix. 50), 
or would call down fire from heaven upon those who re- 
fused to receive him. v. 55. Then sending forth seventy 
before his face to heal and preach in every place whither 
he himself would come, he left Galilee finally, and went up 
to Jerusalem to the feast of tabernacles. John vii. 2-10. 

He remained at the capital or in its vicinity for two 
months, until the feast of dedication, teaching publicly in the 
temple and elsewhere, and performing at least one signal 
miracle — that of healing a man born blind. John ix. 



BIBLE HISTORY, 137 

His foes sought on various occasions to take him, but no 
man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 
John vii. 30 ; viii. 20 ; x. 39. Officers were sent expressly 
to apprehend him, but returned without him, saying, Never 
man spake like this man. John vii. 47. They brought 
cases to him as of the woman taken in adultery, tempting 
him that they might have to accuse him. viii. 6. They 
charged him with being a Samaritan, having a devil (vii. 
20; viii. 48) and being mad. x. 20. They agreed that if 
any man did confess that he was Christ he should be put 
out of the synagogue, ix. 22. And they twice actually 
took up stones to cast at him. viii*. 59 ; x. 31. 

There was, however, a division among them about him, 
for some said, This is the Christ (vii. 41); others, How can 
a man that is a sinner do such miracles? ix. 16 ; x. 19. But 
none of the rulers or Pharisees believed on him (vii. 48) ; the 
only friendly voice among them was that of Nicodemus, who 
claimed that he should not be condemned unheard, v. 51. 

After the feast of dedication Jesus retired before the in- 
creasing hostility of his enemies beyond the Jordan (John 
x. 40), only returning as far as Bethany to raise Lazarus 
from his grave, ch. xi. This new evidence of his Messiahship 
so exasperated the chief priests and Pharisees that the San- 
hedrim was called together, and a formal resolution taken 
that he must be put to death, xi. 53. He continued to 
teach beyond the Jordan, reciting among others the para- 
bles of the great supper (Luke xiv. 16, ff.), the prodigal 
son (xv. 11, ff.) and the rich man and Lazarus, xvi. 19, ff. 
When the Pharisees represented to him that his life was in 
peril from Herod, he replied that he could not perish out 
of Jerusalem. Luke xiii. 31. As he went to the city he 
told his disciples once more of what should befall him 
there, xviii. 31, ff. Nevertheless, the impression that he 
was now on the point of setting up his kingdom led James 
and John to ask for conspicuous positions (Mark x. 35, ff), 

12* 



138 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

and gave occasion to the parable of the ten pounds (Luke 
xix. 11, ff), and after he had reached Bethany, six days 
before the passover (John xii. 1), incited the multitude to 
come forth to meet him and escort him into the city in jubi- 
lant procession, xii. 13. As he came near the city he wept 
over it in its impenitence and coming doom (Luke xix. 41), 
which were also represented in the miracle wrought upon 
the barren fig tree on the following day and the parables 
of the wicked husbandmen (Luke xx. 9, ff), the marriage 
of the king's son (Matt. xxii. 1, ff), the ten virgins (Matt. 
xxv. 1, ff) and the five talents (v. 14, ff), his casting out 
them that sold and bought in the temple (Luke xix. 45), 
and his prediction of the destruction of the temple and of 
Jerusalem. Two days before the passover he was at a sup- 
per at Bethany, where Mary anointed him with costly oint- 
ment, which he said was for his burial. Matt. xxvi. 8, ff 
Judas Iscariot bargained with the chief priests to betray 
him for thirty pieces of silver. Then followed the pass- 
over, the institution of the Lord's Supper, the last address 
of Jesus to his disciples (John xiv. and xvi.) and his prayer 
(xvii.), his agony in Gethsemane and his seizure in the 
night by the band of soldiers led by the traitor Judas. He 
was taken to the high priest's house, where Peter thrice de- 
nied him. Early in the morning the Sanhedrim was sum- 
moned, who pronounced him guilty of death. He was then 
carried to the judgment-hall of Pilate, who finally gave sen- 
tence that he should be crucified. His body was laid in a 
new tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, and a watch set 
to guard the sepulchre. On the morning of the third day 
he rose from the dead; and when Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary visited the sepulchre, they found not the body 
of Jesus, but saw two angels, who told them that he was 
alive ; and as they went to tell the disciples, Jesus himself 
met them. He further appeared to Mary Magdalene at 
the sepulchre (John xx. 14), to Peter (1 Cor. xv. 5), to two 



BIBLE HISTOBY. 139 

disciples on their way to Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 15, ff.), to 
the apostles when Thomas was absent aud again when he 
was present (John xx. 19, ff.), to seven apostles at the Sea 
of Tiberias (John xxi. 1, ff.), and to above five hundred 
brethren at once. 1 Cor. xv. 6. Finally, after being seen of 
his disciples forty days (Acts i. 3), he ascended in their sight 
to heaven. 



LESSON V. 
THE LABOKS OF THE APOSTLES. 

Our Lord, having satisfied the apostles of the reality of 
his resurrection by many infallible proofs, commanded them 
not to depart from Jerusalem till the Holy Spirit, promised 
by the Father, should come upon them. They would thus 
be fitted and empowered to be witnesses unto him in Jerusa- 
lem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost 
part of the earth. Having given them this charge, he was 
taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. The 
eleven, accordingly, returned from the Mount of Olives, the 
scene of the ascension, and with the rest of the disciples, 
amounting in all to about a hundred and twenty, continued 
with one accord in prayer and supplication, awaiting the 
fulfillment of the promise. Meanwhile, they filled up the 
number of the apostles, which had been reduced by the 
apostasy and suicide of Judas Iscariot. Two were named, 
who had been with the Lord Jesus from the very beginning 
of his ministry until the day of his ascension to heaven, 
and who therefore were competent witnesses to his resurrec- 
tion ; of these Matthias was chosen by lot, which was cast 
under divine direction. 

The time for the organization of the Church of the new 
dispensation had now arrived. It was the day of Pentecost, 



1J-0 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

the annual commemoration of the organization of Israel as 
the people of God under the former dispensation, when God 
came down with solemn pomp on Sinai and proclaimed his 
law. The Spirit of God now came down from heaven with 
the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the house 
where the disciples were assembled. And there appeared 
unto them cloven tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each of 
them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghoet, and 
began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them 
utterance. Representatives of various lands then present 
in Jerusalem in attendance upon the feast flocked in, and 
were amazed that, though the speakers were Galileans, every 
man heard them speak in his own language. Thus the gos- 
pel of the crucified and risen Saviour was at the very outset 
proclaimed to those who had been gathered from distant parts 
of the world, symbolic of its being ultimately preached in 
all the world and to every creature. And the same day 
there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 
And all that believed were together and had all things com- 
mon, and sold their possessions and goods and parted them 
to all men as every man had need; and the Lord added to 
the Church daily such as should be saved. 

The infant Church, thus divinely established, was now 
subjected to successive trials from without and from within, 
which, however, instead of destroying, or even weakening it, 
were overruled for its enlargement and purification and more 
complete equipment. Peter and John healed a lame man 
at the temple and again preached Jesus and the resurrection 
to the wondering crowds, five thousand of whom believed. 
For thus speaking to the people they were arrested and 
brought before the Sanhedrim, where, unabashed, they 
repeated their testimony, that " by the name of Jesus of 
Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the 
dead, doth this man stand here before you whole." To the 
command of the council that they should not speak at all, 



BIBLE HISTORY. 141 

nor teach in the name of Jesus, they firmly and decidedly 
refused compliance. So, when they had further threatened 
them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might 
punish them, because of the people ; for all men glorified 
God for that which was done. But in this popularity and 
rapid increase and enthusiasm of the early converts there lay 
a fresh danger to the Church, arising within its own bosom ; 
unworthy adherents might be attracted to it and gain ad- 
mission, whose hypocrisy might cast suspicion on the body 
and endanger its purity. Ananias and Sapphira sought a 
reputation for piety by a false pretence, but their sudden and 
startling fate created a widespread and salutary awe which 
deterred others from following their pernicious example. 

Miracles of healing continued to be wrought in great 
numbers. The sick were placed on beds and couches in 
the streets that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by 
might overshadow some of them, and the diseased "were 
brought from surrounding cities into Jerusalem to be 
cured, and believers were added to the Lord, multitudes 
both of men and women. Alarmed at the rapidity w 7 ith 
which the new faith was spreading, the high priest and his 
associates undertook to stop it by still more summary mea- 
sures than before. They seized the whole body of the 
apostles and put them in the common prison. v When the 
Sanhedrim assembled in the morning to deliberate upon 
the case, to their dismay the prisoners had disappeared. 
They had been miraculously released, and had returned to 
the temple to teach the people. Learning this, they had 
them brought before them ; and exasperated by their in- 
trepid boldness, they took counsel to slay them. Dissuaded 
from this extreme measure by the judicious advice of 
Gamaliel, they beat the apostles and commanded them not 
to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they 
departed rejoicing that they were counted 4 worthy to suffer 
shame for his name ; and daily in the temple and in every 



142 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

house they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ. 
A fresh trouble arose within the Church consequent upon its 
rapid enlargement. It is not now corruption, threatening 
to mar the purity of the Church, but strife between parties, 
impairing its unity. The Grecian Jews murmured against 
the Hebrews because their w T idows w T ere neglected in the 
daily ministration. The dissension was allayed, and the 
inadequate distribution of the benefactions of the Church 
to the needy poor was corrected by creating the office of 
deacon with reference to this special work. Seven deacons 
were appointed. Among them was Stephen, whose great 
fidelity and ability proved the occasion of a renewed out- 
break of hostility more virulent than before. Stephen him- 
self was its first victim. He was carried before the Sanhe- 
drim, and false witnesses brought forward who charged him 
with blasphemous words against the temple and the law. 
He stated and defended his real position by reciting briefly 
the history of the chosen people and showing that the un- 
faithfulness of which they had been guilty in every age had 
now culminated in the murder of Him who was predicted 
by the prophets, and that the temple could not be God's true 
and permanent abode. These unwelcome truths filled them 
with rage, and they stoned him to death. It is in connec- 
tion with this first Christian martyrdom that the earliest 
mention is made of one who is afterward to appear in a 
very different character and play a very prominent part in 
the apostolic Church. The witnesses laid down their clothes 
at a young man's feet whose name was Saul, and Saul was 
consenting unto his death. 

This martyrdom was the signal for the first act in a great 
and bloody persecution, which, however, instead of crush- 
ing the Church, served but to open the way for a new stage 
in its development and growth. Hitherto it had been con- 
fined to Jerusalem, which was its appointed place of begin- 
ning. The time had now come for its diffusion, and the 



BIBLE HISTORY. 143 

violence of this persecution was the providential means of 
bringing this about. The disciples were scattered abroad, 
and went everywhere preaching the word. Philip, one of 
the seven deacons, went northward to Samaria, which may 
be said to have occupied a position intermediate between 
Jews and Gentiles, and preached the gospel with such suc- 
cess that he was followed by the apostles Peter and John, 
who labored both there and in other cities of the Samari- 
tans. Philip was then directed to the opposite quarter, 
southward from Jerusalem, where he met an Ethiopian 
eunuch of great authority under Queen Candace, and 
preached to him Jesus ; he believed, was baptized, and went 
on his way rejoicing. But it was not only by dispersed dis- 
ciples that the gospel was thus carried into various parts. 
An instrument of God's grace was preparing in one of the 
persecutors themselves. Saul, w 7 ho started to Damascus 
breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disci- 
ples of the Lord, w T as converted on the way, and began 
himself to preach Jesus, first at Damascus, then at Jerusa- 
lem, whence also he found it prudent to retire to his native 
city of Tarsus. But the Church did not itself understand 
that the restrictions of the old dispensation w 7 ere no longer 
operative, and that the barriers of the ceremonial law, 
which had proved so serviceable in guarding God's ancient 
people from contamination, were not now to be permitted 
to obstruct the free diffusion of the gospel. Peter had 
preached on the day of Pentecost that the promise was to 
all that are afar off (Acts ii. 39), and that all the kindreds 
of the earth were to be blessed in the seed of Abraham, iii. 
25. But that this involved the abolition of Mosaic institu- 
tions he had not suspected. The first lesson on this subject 
was now given to the apostle of the circumcision. Gal. ii. 8. 
Peter had been providentially led to Lydda and then to 
Joppa, to which latter place Cornelius, k devout Eoman 
centurion of Csesarea, had been directed to send to him for 



144 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

further instruction. A special vision, teaching him not to 
call that unclean which God had cleansed, prepared him 
for the coming of the messengers, with whom the Spirit bid 
him go. As he was preaching to Cornelius and his assem- 
bled friends the Holy Ghost fell on them with his miracu- 
lous influences, and he could not refuse to baptize them. 
On his return to Jerusalem he was charged with having 
broken the law by eating with men uncircumcised ; but on 
his rehearsing the whole matter, the confession was made, 
" Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance 
unto life." A further step was taken in the same direction 
when those scattered by the persecution came to Antioch 
and preached to Greeks with remarkable success. This 
was followed up by Barnabas and Saul, who labored there 
for a w T hole year; and the disciples were first called Chris- 
tians in Antioch. It was thus recognized for the first time 
that they were not a mere section of the Jews, but formed a 
distinct body. The new name implied the admission that 
the Church had attained to a separate and independent ex- 
istence. Antioch was preparing to be a new centre of Chris- 
tian radiation, but meanwhile recognized its dependence on 
the mother-church at Jerusalem by sending supplies to the 
needy brethren in Judea by the hands of Barnabas and 
Saul. A fresh persecution under Herod Agrippa showed 
how impossible it was thus to check the gospel. James, the 
brother of John, was killed. But Peter, though impris- 
oned, was miraculously released ; the persecutor died a mis- 
erable death, and the word of God grew and multiplied. 

The time had now come for an entirely new movement in 
the work of spreading the gospel. Hitherto apostolic and 
Christian labor had been confined almost exclusively to the 
territory of Palestine. Now, by the express direction of the 
Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul, or Paul, were set apart, and 
sent forth by the church at Antioch upon a mission in for- 
eign lands. They passed through Seleucia, Salamis and 



BIBLE HISTORY. 145 

Paphos in Cyprus, Perga in Pamphylia, Antioch in Pisidia, 
Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, and then returned by the same 
route to Perga, and thence to Attalia and Antioch, planting 
and organizing churches everywhere. The chief opposition 
that they encountered was from the Jews, and their princi- 
pal converts w T ere from the Gentiles. But were these Gen- 
tile converts to be required to observe the law of Moses ? 
This was affirmed by some who came down from Judea, and 
denied by Paul and Barnabas. The question was referred 
to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for decision, and 
they enjoined no ceremonial observances whatever, but sim- 
ply required them, from prudential considerations, to abstain 
from meats offered to idols, and from things strangled, and 
from blood, as well as to keep aloof from that licentiousness 
which prevailed to such a shocking extent among the 
heathen. Paul and Barnabas now separated, each going in 
a different direction. Barnabas, with Mark, sailed unto his 
native island of Cyprus. Paul, with Silas and Timothy, 
took a much more extensive tour than before. After passing 
through Galatia and other parts of Asia Minor, he was led 
by express divine direction into Europe. Entering Mace- 
donia, he visited Philippi and Thessalonica, founding the 
churches to which he subsequently addressed three of his 
Epistles. Driven onward by Jewish opposition, he went to 
Berea, Athens and Corinth, where he remained a year and 
six months, and the results of his labors are apparent in his 
two Epistles to the church in that city. Having thus gained 
a permanent lodgment for the gospel in Greece, he hastened 
back to Jerusalem and Antioch by way of Ephesus, 
promising shortly to return to this important city. Accord- 
ingly, after a brief delay, he directed his third missionary 
journey mainly to Ephesus, where he remained for three 
years, preaching in the synagogues, disputing in the schools, 
teaching from house to house, and working miracles with 
such effect that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word 

13 



146 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Great numbers 
believed, and many abandoned the practice of magic arts, 
and the makers of silver shrines for Diana began to fear 
that they should lose their occupation, so mightily grew 
the word of God, and prevailed. Having occupied this pop- 
ulous and influential metropolis of Western Asia, Paul next 
turned his thoughts to Rome, the capital and heart of the 
civilized world (Acts xix. 21), where, however, he was to be 
taken in a very different way from that he then imagined. 
A short time w T as spent in revisiting the churches in Greece 
and Macedonia, after which he returned to Miletus, where 
he took a last affecting farewell of the elders of the Ephesian 
church, and then persistently, in the face of entreaties and 
prophetic warning, went bound in the spirit unto Jerusa- 
lem. 

Thus far the gospel had been spread by the active efforts 
of the apostles and disciples, either impelled by their own 
voluntary purpose or driven by the persecution of foes. 
The preacher of the gospel is now to be carried to the cap- 
ital of the Roman empire by the authorities of the empire 
itself. Paul had scarcely been a week in Jerusalem when 
he was seized in the temple by a Jewish mob, who would 
have put him to death if he had not been rescued by the 
chief captain of the Roman garrison, by whose permission 
he made his defence to the populace from the stairs of the 
castle. On the following day he made another defence be- 
fore the assembled Jewish council. As a plot had been 
formed against his life, he was sent under guard to Caesarea, 
the residence of the governor Felix, before whom he de- 
fended himself again, and then once more before his suc- 
cessor, Festus. As the latter proposed to send him back to 
Jerusalem, he was obliged to appeal unto Caesar. Accord- 
ingly, after a fifth defence, in the presence of KingAgrippa, 
he was embarked as a prisoner for Rome. The vessel in 
which he sailed was wrecked upon the island of Malta ; but 



BIBLE HISTORY. 147 

all escaping with their lives, he was forwarded to the impe- 
rial city. Here, being suffered to dwell by himself with a 
soldier that kept him, he first, as had been his invariable 
custom, endeavored to win the Jews to the acceptance of 
the gospel. So, calling their chief men together in three 
days after his arrival, a day was named for a conference, at 
which he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, per- 
suading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Mo- 
ses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. 
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some 
believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves 
they departed, after Paul had faithfully set before them the 
consequences of this obstinate blindness : Be it known, 
therefore, unto you that the salvation of God is sent unto 
the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And Paul dwelt 
two whole years in his own hired house, and received all 
that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God and 
teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ 
with all confidence, no man forbidding him. 

The Church, thus gradually freed from the trammels of 
Judaism, and planted in the chief seats of population and 
influence, and attended by the mighty power of God, was 
fairly equipped for its great struggle for the mastery of the 
world. 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 



LESSON L 
PALESTINE. 



The land which was the residence of the chosen people, 
where our blessed Saviour dwelt and where the principal 
events recorded in the Bible took place, is known by various 
names. On account of its sacred associations it is called 
the Holy Land (Zech. ii. 12), the pleasant land (Dan. viii. 9), 
the glorious land (Dan. xi. 16), the Lord's land (Hos. ix. 3), 
the land which the Lord sware to Abraham, to Isaac and 
to Jacob (Gen. 1. 24), and the land of promise. Heb. xi. 9. 
From its inhabitants at different periods it is called the 
land of Canaan (Gen. xi. 31), the land of the Hebrews 
(Gen. xl. 15), the land of Israel (1 Sam. xiii. 19), and Pal- 
estine, which is now familiarly applied to the whole coun- 
try ; though when used in the Old Testament (Ex. xv. 14; 
Isa. xiv. 29 ; Joel iii. 4), it has its original and narrower 
sense of Philistia (Ps. Ix. 8), or the territory of the Philis- 
tines along the south-western coast. 

This land was admirably adapted by its location for the 
purpose for which God in his providence designed it. It 
was shut in by great natural barriers, the Mediterranean on 
the west, the mountain range of Lebanon on the north and 
the desert on the south and east, and the people were thus 
secluded from the heathen states around them. Its prox- 
imity to the seats of early civilization and to the great em- 
pires of the old world both gave them the advantage of the 
highest existing forms of worldly culture and provided 

13* 149 



150 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

instruments for their chastisement when they transgressed. 
And its central position in relation to the three great conti- 
nents of the eastern hemisphere, lying as it did upon or 
adjacent to the main routes of trade and travel from west 
to east, eminently fitted it to be the centre of diffusion for 
the true religion when the time had come for the gospel to 
be preached to every creature. 

As defined in the promise to Abraham (Gen. xv. 18) and 
to Moses (Ex. xxiii. 31), the land extended to the Euphrates 
on the east and to the Ked Sea on the south. These limits 
were reached in the prosperous reigns of David and Solo- 
mon (1 Kings iv. 21 ; ix. 26), but were only maintained for 
a brief period. The territory actually assigned by Moses 
to the tribes east of the Jordan is minutely described 
Num. xxxii. 33-42, and the boundaries of the territory 
west of the Jordan are given in Num. xxxiv. 2-12. This 
cannot now be traced with perfect accuracy, since several 
of the places named in the description can no longer be 
identified. It may be stated in the general that it lay be- 
tween 33J° and 35|° east longitude, as reckoned from Green- 
wich, and between 30}° and 33J° north latitude, being thus 
about midway between the equator and the arctic circle. 
Kitto estimates its extreme length from north to south at 
about 180 miles, and its extreme breadth from west to east 
at about 100 miles, its average breadth being perhaps 65 
miles and its area about 11,000 square miles. This would 
make it about the size of the State of Maryland, or equal 
to one-fourth of Pennsylvania, or one-fifth of England and 
Wales, or two-thirds of Switzerland. But as in the case 
of Greece, its influence upon the world has been immense, 
notwithstanding its small extent. 

In studying the geography of Palestine, we shall first 
consider its physical features and then proceed to its civil 
divisions and its cities. As the most important of the phys- 
ical features of a country are its elevations, we shall in the 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 151 

first instance examine the mountains and highlands. These 
condition the existence and determine the amount of its 
depressions, viz., the valleys and plains, which will next 
claim attention. And these again fix its water system 
in location, extent and the direction of its flow, which 
brings before us its seas and lakes, rivers, streams and 
fountains. 

Mountains. 

In general, Palestine may be described as a mountain 
land, or, as it is called by Moses (Dent. xi. 11), "a land of 
hills and valleys." It is an elevated, undulating region, 
stretching from the mountains of Lebanon on the north to" 
the Arabian desert and the mountains of Sin, an extension 
of the Sinaitic range, on the south. This lofty plateau is 
divided through all its extent from north to south by the 
deep and precipitous valley of the Jordan, called by the 
modern inhabitants El Ghor, and which, under the name 
El Arabah, is continued all the way to the Dead Sea. Par- 
allel to this is a broader depression along the Mediterra- 
nean coast, which also reaches, with but a single interrup- 
tion, from the northern to the southern limit of the country. 
There are thus two elevated plateaus extending north and 
south, one on the east and the other on the west of the Jor- 
dan, and two resulting depressions, viz., the valley of the 
river Jordan and the plain upon the sea-coast. 

Reviewing the mountains more in detail, Lebanon de- 
mands the first place, as most remarkable in itself and most 
frequently referred to in Scripture. Moses calls it (Deut. 
iii. 26) " that goodly mountain.' ' The name Lebanon means 
strictly the "white" mountain, and is given to it either on 
account of the chalky whiteness of the limestone rock of 
which it is chiefly composed, or because of the snow which 
rests upon some of its summits during the greater part of 
the year. The southern extremity of Lebanon constitutes 



152 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

the northern boundary of Palestine. It consists of two 
parallel ranges of mountains, commonly called Libanus 
and anti-Libanus, though this distinction is never made in 
the Bible, both being there included under the common 
name of Lebanon. They run through about one degree of 
latitude, from south-west to north-east, parallel to the sea- 
coast and enclosing the rich and fertile valley of Coele- 
Syria, or, as it called (Josh. xi. 17 ; xii. 7), " the valley of 
Lebanon/ ' The mountains attain an elevation of about 
9000 feet ; their sides are terraced and extremely product- 
ive. The sacred writers celebrate its perennial streams 
(Sol. Song iv. 15) ; the perfume of its plants (Sol. Song iv. 
11 ; Hos. xiv. 6) ; its wine (Hos. xiv. 7) ; and especially its 
cedars, which the Tyriaus used for masts of vessels and 
boxes of merchandise (Ezek. xxv. 5, 24), David for his 
palace on Mount Zion (2 Sam. v. 11), Solomon in the erec- 
tion of the temple, floating them by sea to Joppa (2 Chron. 
ii. 8, 16), and the Jews after the captivity in building the 
second temple. Ezra iii. 7. 

The southern portion of the anti-Libanus range was 
known as Mount Hermon, which, according to Deut. iii. 9, 
the Sidonians called "Sirion" and the Amorites "Shenir," 
and also bore the name of "Sion" (Deut. iv. 45), a different 
word in Hebrew from "Zion," the mountain in Jerusalem, 
though this is also spelled "Sion" in the New Testament. 
Hermon is the highest point in the range, rising to an alti- 
tude of perhaps 10,000 feet, and covered with perpetual 
snow. The hoary whiteness of its summit has given rise to 
its modern name of Jebel-es-Sheikh, old man mountain, or 
Jebel-el-telj, snow mountain. 

Passing southward upon the west of the Jordan, we first 
meet Mount Naphtali, mentioned once (Josh. xx. 7) as the 
site of Kedesh, one of the cities of refuge. It is a spur 
running south-west from Hermon, and is named from the 
tribe within whose territory it lay. This falls oft' into the 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 153 

high table-land of Zebulun, or of Galilee, which slopes 
gradually into the plain on the seacoast, but with a steej)er 
descent into the valley of Jezreel on the south, and more 
abruptly still toward the Lake of Geunesaret and the val- 
ley of the Jordan. From this elevated base arises the so- 
called Mount of Beatitudes, nearly due west from the mid- 
dle of the lake, and Mount Tabor farther south, almost on 
a line with the extremity of the same base. The former, 
which derives its name from the doubtful tradition that the 
Sermon on the Mount was delivered on its summit, is a low 
ridge thirty or forty feet high and scarcely half a mile long. 
Mount Tabor is in appearance a truncated cone, rising to a 
considerable elevation and having a level plot of more than 
a mile in circumference upon its summit, which commands 
a view of rare extent and beauty. It is spoken of (Josh. 
xix. 22) as one point in the boundary of the tribe of Issa- 
char ; at this mountain Barak assembled his army before 
his victory over Sisera (Judg. iv. 6), here Gideon's brethren 
were slain by the Midianites (Judg. viii. 18), and tradition 
has fixed upon it as the scene of our Lord's transfiguration. 
South of the table-land of Nazareth runs the broad and 
fertile valley of Jezreel, separating it from the high land 
beyond, which extends southward to the limits of Palestine. 
This, though forming an uninterrupted hill country, is dis- 
tinguished (Josh. xx. 7) into the mountain of Ephraim and 
the mountain of Judah, the former embracing the northern 
and the latter the southern portion of it, the names being 
derived from the tribes in whose territories it lay. At the 
north-eastern extremity of this mountain land of Ephraim 
we find Mount Gilboa, overlooking the valley of Jezreel 
and the plain of the Jordan ; here Saul and his sons were 
slain in battle with the Philistines. 1 Sam. xxxi. North 
of this mountain, and separated from it by a branch of the 
valley of Jezreel, lies a high ridge to which tradition has im- 
properly given the name of Hermon, and which is in con- 



154 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

sequence often called Little Hermon, in distinction from 
the true Hermon already spoken of. 

At its north-western extremity the mountain of Ephraim 
sends out a long spur reaching to the sea, the extremity of 
which is known as the promontory of Mount Carmel. This 
name, which signifies " a garden," was bestowed upon it on 
account of its fertility. Hence, Isaiah, describing the glo- 
rious changes of the future under the emblem of the desert 
being made to bloom, says (xxxv. 2), " The glory of Leba- 
non and the excellency of Carmel shall be given unto it." 
This marked the southern boundary of the tribe of Asher 
(Josh. xix. 26) ; here Elijah encountered the prophets of 
Baal and his sacrifice was consumed by fire from heaven 
(1 Kings xviii. 19, fF.) ; from its summit his servant saw the 
little cloud arising out of the sea (ver. 44) ; and here we 
subsequently find Elisha. 2 Kings iv. 25. Its modern 
name is Jebel mar Elias, or the mountain of St. Elijah. 
The order of Carmelite monks takes its name from this 
mountain, on which convents have been erected at different 
periods. The snowy peak of Hermon is visible from its 
summit, though perhaps fifty miles distant. The immense 
number of caves and grottoes, natural or artificial, which 
here exist and afford remarkable facilities for concealment, 
is perhaps alluded to in Amos ix. 3 : " Though they hide 
themselves in the top of Carmel." 

To the mountains of Ephraim further belong Ebal and 
Gerizim, which rise in steep, rocky precipices from opposite 
sides of the narrow valley of Shechem. The children of 
Israel were directed (Deut. xxvii.), on their entrance into 
Canaan, to erect an altar on Ebal, and six tribes were to 
stand on Ebal to pronounce the curses of the law, and six 
on Gerizim to pronounce blessings. The Samaritans built 
a temple on Gerizim in the time of Alexander the Great, 
and substituted " Gerizim " for " Ebal " in their copies of 
the law in the passage above referred to. To this temple 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 155 

the woman of Samaria alluded when she said (John iv. 20), 
"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain/' and to this 
day the Samaritans turn their faces toward Mount Gerizim 
when they pray. It was from the top of Gerizim that Jo- 
tham propounded his parable to the men of Shechem. 
Judg. ix. 7. 

To the mountain land of Ephraim also belong the hill of 
Samaria (1 Kings xvi. 24), on which the city of that name 
was built; Mount Zalmon, which must have been some- 
where in the vicinity of Shechem ; the hill Gaash, where 
Joshua was buried (Josh. xx. 30) ; and Mount Zemaraim, 
the scene of a victory by King Abijah over Jeroboam 
(2 Chron. xiii. 3), whose localities cannot now be identified. 

The southern part of this elevated region, or the moun- 
tain of Judah, includes the mountains of Jerusalem, viz : Zion, 
w T hich David selected for his own residence (2 Sam. v. 7), 
and on which he erected a temporary tabernacle for the 
ark (2 Sam. vi. 12, ff.) ; Mount Moriah, on which Solomon 
built the temple (2 Chron. iii. 1), and where Abraham had 
been directed to offer Isaac (Gen. xxii. 2) ; and the Mount 
of Olives on the east side of the city. On the eastern 
border of this mountain district of Judah, near Jericho, is 
Mount Quarantania, so called as the reputed scene of our 
Lord's temptation and fasting for forty days. At the foot 
of this mountain is a spring, said to be the one which Eli- 
sha healed by casting into it a cruse of salt. 2 Kings ii. 21. 

The south-eastern portion of this high table-land was the 
wilderness of Judah (Judg. i. 16), different portions of 
which went by different names derived from places in the 
vicinity, as the wilderness of Tekoah (2 Chron. xx. 20), 
and the following, which occur in the history of David : the 
wilderness of Engedi (1 Sam. xxiv. 1), of Maon (1 Sam. 
xxiii. 25), of Ziph. 1 Sam. xxiii. 14. Carmel, also, where 
Nabal resided (1 Sam. xxv.), is in this region, and must not 
be confounded with the promontory of Mount Carmel, be- 



156 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

fore described. The southern extremity of the mountain 
of Judah, where it abuts upon the wilderness, is called the 
mountain of the Amorites. Deut. i. 7. The children of 
Israel presumptuously undertook to enter the land by this 
route after they had been condemned to retrace their steps 
in the wilderness, and were in consequence smitten before 
the Amorites. Deut. i. 43, 44. 

The elevated district east of the Jordan was called in its 
northern. portion the hill of Bashan (Ps. lxviii. 15), cele- 
brated for its oaks (Isa. ii. 13) and for its cattle (Deut. 
xxxii. 14; Ps. xxii. 12), which there found abundant pas- 
turage. Farther south it was known as Mount Gilead 
(Deut. iii. 12), and opposite the Dead Sea the range took 
the name of the mountain Abarim (Deut. xxxii. 49), to 
which belong Mount Xebo, a particular summit, and Mount 
Pisgah, a portion of the range (Deut. xxxiv. 1) from which 
Moses saw the promised land, and where he died ; also 
Mount Peor, to which, as well as to Pisgah, Balak brought 
Balaam when he wished him to curse Israel. 

The mountains of Palestine are mostly composed of 
limestone, in which are numerous caves, such as those in 
which the Israelites hid from fear of the Midianites (Judg. vi. 
2), or of the Philistines. 1 Sam. xiii. 6. Five kings of the 
Canaanites concealed themselves in the cave at Makkedah 
(Josh. x. 16) ; six hundred Benjamites abode in the rock 
Bimmon four months (Judg. xx. 47) ; David and his men 
took refuge from the pursuit of Saul in the cave Adullani 
(1 Sam. xxii. 1) and in another in the wilderness of En- 
gedi. 1 Sam. xxiv. 3. The cave in Machpelah was pur- 
chased by Abraham for a burial-place (Gen. xxiii. 17), and 
our Lord's body was laid in a tomb hewn out of the rock. 
Matt, xxvii. 60. 

The mountains of Bashan consist of a black basalt, which 
contains no caves and is too hard to be hollowed out. This 
explains the circumstance mentioned (Deut. iii. 4, 5) as 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 157 

peculiar to Bashan, that the cities were fenced with high 
walls, gates and bars. In the regions traversed by the 
children of Israel previously the people dwelt largely in 
habitations excavated from the rock, as in the Edomite city 
of Petra. Obad., ver. 3. But in Bashan this was impossi- 
ble. The only way in which they could there provide for 
mutual defence was by living together in walled cities. 



LESSON II. 
PLAINS AND VALLEYS. 



The valley of Jezreel has already been spoken of as 
intersecting the highlands west of the Jordan. It lies 
between the mountains of Galilee on the north, the moun- 
tains of Ephraim on the south, Mount Carmel on the west 
and Mount Gilboa on the east, and is perhaps twenty miles 
long by ten broad. It derives its name from the city of 
Jezreel, and is occasionally called the valley of Megiddo 
from another town included within its limits. 2 Chron. 
xxxv. 22. This has been the great battle-ground of Pales- 
tine. Here Gideon gained his victory over the Midianites 
(Judg. vi. 32 ; vii. 22) ; here the Israelites encamped prior 
to Saul's last battle with the Philistines (1 Sam. xxix. 1); 
here the Syrians were beaten by Ahab when they said the 
Lord was the God of the hills, but not of the valleys (1 Kings 
xx. 26) ; here King Josiah was slain in battle with the king 
of Egypt. 2 Kings xxiii. 29. It was, according to Jose- 
phus, the scene of a battle between the Jews and the Ro- 
mans under Vespasian, and in modern times the French 
under Napoleon here gained a victory over the Turks. 

The plain along the sea-coast is divided by Mount Car- 
mel. That portion which extends northward to the prom- 
ontory known as the Ladder of Tyre is not particularly 

14 



158 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

mentioned in Scripture. The other portion, extending from 
Mount Carmel to the southern boundary of Palestine, is 
about one hundred miles in length and from twelve to 
twenty miles in breadth. From Carmel to Joppa or Jam- 
nia it was called the plain of Sharon, whose fertility and 
beauty are frequently celebrated in the Bible. South of 
this it was called the vale (Josh. x. 48) ; its Hebrew name, 
Sephela, is retained in 1 Mace. xii. 38. The valley of Sorek 
(Judg. xvi. 4), where Samson found Delilah, was probably 
somewhere in this Philistine vale. 

The plain of the Jordan (Gen. xiii. 10 ; called, Matt.iii. 5, 
the region round about Jordan) is the valley through which 
the Jordan flows. It is of varying width and mostly 
bounded on each side by steep ascents. In the vicinity of 
Jericho it was called the plain of the valley of Jericho 
(Deut. xxxiv. 3), and on the east of Jordan, opposite Jeri- 
cho, it was called the plains of Moab. Num. xx. 1. As 
this depression continues southward from the Dead Sea to 
the ^Elanitic gulf, it was formerly thought that the Jordan 
flowed by this channel into the Red Sea prior to the de- 
struction of Sodom and Gomorrah. But this opinion has 
been abandoned since the discovery of the fact that this 
valley for a considerable distance descends northward to- 
ward the Dead Sea, and that the level of the Dead Sea 
itself is so far below that of neighboring seas. The Val- 
ley of Salt, where David smote the Syrians (2 Sam. xiii. 13), 
and where Amaziah gained a victory over Edom (2 Kings 
xiv. 7), was south of the Dead Sea in this extension of the 
valley of the Jordan. 

Seas, Lakes and Rivers. 

The Mediterranean is called the sea (Num. xxxiv. 5), the 
great sea (vs. 6, 7), the uttermost sea (Deut. xi. 24) — i. e. t 
the hindmost sea, which is equivalent to the western sea, 
since the face was turned to the east in naming the points 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 159 

of the compass ; it is also entitled the sea of the Philistines 
(Ex. xxiii. 31), because the Philistines occupied a portion 
of its coast. The shores of this sea from the Ladder of 
Tyre northward are rocky and precipitous. But the greater 
portion of the coast of Palestine is low and sandy. The 
only good harbor is that lying north of Carmel, though 
voyages were made to and from Joppa (Jon. i. 3) and ves- 
sels landed at Csesarea. Acts xviii. 22. 

The Jordan forms the eastern boundary of Canaan, prop- 
erly so called, or the dividing line between Eastern and West- 
ern Palestine. This river is formed by the confluence of 
three or four small streams which descend from the region 
of Mount Hermon. It flows first into the Lake of Merom, 
on the banks of w r hich Joshua discomfited Jabin, king of 
Hazor, and the kings that were with him. Josh. xi. 7. A 
few miles below this it flows through the Lake of Gennes- 
aret, the Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias, as it is 
variously called in the New Testament, where it is repeat- 
edly mentioned in connection with events in the life of our 
Lord ; its name in the Old Testament is the Sea of Cinne- 
roth (Josh. xii. 3), or, with a slightly different orthography, 
Chinnereth. Num. xxxiv. 11. This lake is about twelve 
miles long and five broad, and is encased among beautiful 
and verdant hills, having on the west the table-land of Gali- 
lee and on the east the still steeper and loftier region of 
Bashan. The waters of the lake are clear and sweet, and 
at its northern extremity abound in fish. 

Leaving this lake, the Jordan continues to flow due south 
until it reaches the Dead Sea, called also the sea of the 
plain, the salt sea (Deut. iii. 7) and the east sea (Ezek. 
xlvii. 18), which occupies the site of Sodom and Gomorrah 
and the other cities of the plain, which were destroyed by 
fire from heaven, whence its modern name among the na- 
tives of that region is the Sea of Lot. It is about forty 
miles long and ten broad, and receives its current designa- 



160 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

tion, " the Dead Sea," from the fact that there is no verdure 
on its shores and no life in its waters, which are acrid and 
strongly impregnated with mineral salts. 

It is a remarkable fact that the Jordan lies throughout 
its whole extent below the level of the Mediterranean. 
The Lake of Gennesaret is 700 feet below the level of the 
sea, and the Dead Sea 1300 feet below the same level. 
There is thus a fall of 600 feet between them, while the 
distance is but sixty miles in a direct line, though trebled 
by the tortuous course of the river. The depth of the val- 
ley of the Jordan, bordered as it is by high mountains, 
which shelter it from cooling winds and concentrate the 
rays of the sun, makes its climate almost tropical and its 
harvest a fortnight earlier than in the highlands to the east 
of it ; and the great heat in the basin of the Dead Sea pro- 
duces an evaporation which balances the influx of the 
Jordan. 

All the streams of the land west of the Jordan flow 
either east into this river or west into the Mediterranean, 
and the watershed, or dividing line between those which run 
in one direction or in the other, lies near the main route, 
which traverses the land from south to north, and passes 
through its principal places, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, 
and so on to Nazareth. The line which separates the east- 
ern from the western declivity accordingly runs not through 
the centre of the land, but considerably nearer its eastern 
border, making the western slope twice as long as the east- 
ern, the latter being in the same proportion more precipi- 
tous. The streams which fall into the Jordan are conse- 
quently smaller than those which empty into the Mediter- 
ranean, and partake more of the character of mountain tor- 
rents. 

The Shihor-libnath (Josh. xix. 26) mentioned in the 
statement of the boundaries of Asher has been plausibly 
conjectured to be the Belus of classic writers, emptying 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 161 

near the town of Accho. Upon its banks, according to 
Pliny and Tacitus, glass was accidentally discovered by the 
melting of its sands. According to some eminent author- 
ities, its Hebrew name denotes "the glass river." 

The Kishon drains the valley of Jezreel and empties near 
the foot of Mount Carniel. This is called by Deborah " that 
ancient river, the river Kishon," and she speaks of its 
sweeping away the dead bodies of Sisera's host. Judg. v. 
21. It was by this stream that Elijah put to death the 
prophets of Baal. 1 Kings xviii. 40. 

The streams south of Carmel are more insignificant and 
of less note. The river Kanah (Josh. xvi. 8), or " brook 
of reeds," is only mentioned as the border line of Eph- 
raim. The brook Besor, which runs south of Gaza, was 
crossed by David (1 Sam. xxx. 9) in his pursuit of the 
Amalekites who had burned Ziklag. The river of Egypt 
(Gen. xv. 18) is the last of these streams, and marks the 
sonthern border of Palestine. Its modern name is the 
wady el-Arish. 

Of the trifling streams which find their way to the Jor- 
dan, the only ones mentioned in Scripture are the brook 
Cherith (1 Kings xvii. 3, 5), where Elijah was fed by 
ravens, and which Robinson identifies with the wady Kelt, 
near Jericho ; the waters healed by Elisha (2 Kings ii. 21), 
also in the vicinity of Jericho ; and the Kedron (John xviii. 
1), which rises near Jerusalem and empties into the Dead 
Sea. 

On the east of the Jordan we find three principal streams. 
The Jarmuk or Hieromax is nowhere referred to in the 
Bible. The Jabbok separated the land of the Amorites 
from Bashan, and subsequently the territory of Gad from 
that of the half tribe of Manasseh ; it is first mentioned 
in the account of Jacob's return from Mesopotamia, and 
it was on its banks that he wrestled with the angel and pre- 
vailed. Gen. xxxii. 12. And finally we have the Arnon, 
u* 



162 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

which empties into the Dead Sea and separated Moab on the 
south from Ammon on the north. 

Climate. 

The year is divided into two seasons, the winter, or more 
properly the cold season, extending from October to March, 
and the summer, or warm season, from April to Septem- 
ber. During the latter no rain falls, but the dews are very 
copious. Hence, "rain in harvest" is spoken of (Prov. 
xxvi. 1) as something quite out of place, and " thunder and 
rain in wheat harvest" were sent by miracle at the prayer 
of Samuel. 1 Sam. xii. 17. The first rain, commonly styled 
the early rain, fell in October, after which the winter crops, 
principally wheat and barley, were sown. Rain was thence- 
forward liable to occur at intervals until March and the 
beginning of April, which was the end of the rainfall for 
the year, and was accordingly known as the period of the 
latter rain. Snow is not infrequent from December to Feb- 
ruary, though in Jerusalem it rarely lies longer than a sin- 
gle day. 

The winds from the west and south-west, coming from the 
Mediterranean, were charged with moisture, and brought 
showers and rain (Luke xii. 54) ; the east wind, in conse- 
quence of the desert region over which it passed, was dry 
and withering in its effect. Hos. xiii. 15. The south wind, 
proceeding from the warm countries of that quarter, brought 
heat. Luke xii. 55. The hot simoom of the desert appears 
to be alluded to (Ps. xi. 6), where " an horrible tempest" is 
literally " a burning wind." This never blows in Palestine, 
though it does in the neighboring desert of Arabia. 

The extraordinary fertility of Palestine is celebrated not 
only in the Bible (Deut. viii. 7-9), where it is repeatedly 
called a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex. iii. 8), but 
also by the classic writers of antiquity; and this is con- 
firmed by the population which it once supported. In the 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE 163 

days of David this must have amounted to 400 to the 
square mile ; and according to Josephus, the population was 
still more dense in his time, Its present condition is in 
lamentable contrast with its former state. The land has 
been desolated by the curse of centuries. Property has 
been rendered so insecure by the wars which have raged 
there, by the exactions of oppressive rulers and by the in- 
cursions of predatory tribes, that large portions are left 
waste and uncultivated. And by the neglect of ages the 
soil has been allowed to be washed from the hillsides and 
other exposed situations, until the fruitful land has actually 
been converted into barrenness. Ps. cvii. 34. 

Inhabitants and Civil Divisions. 

"When Israel entered Canaan, it was held by seven na- 
tions, the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Per- 
izzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Deut. vii. 1. In Gen. xv. 
19-21 ten nations are spoken of, but the Kenites, Keniz- 
zites and Kadmonites may have been subdivisions of one 
or other of the seven already mentioned. These various 
tribes, which were descended from Canaan, the youngest son 
of Ham (Gen. x. 15, ff.), were not, however, the original 
occupants of the land. We find occasional allusions to an 
antecedent population, which from their powerful frames 
and great stature were called Eephaim or giants. Gen. 
xiv. 5. To these belonged the Anakim (Num. xiii. 33), the 
Emims (Deut. ii. 10), who are described as " a people great 
and many, and tall as the Anakims," the Horims (ver. 12), 
the Zamzummims (ver. 20) and the Avims. ver. 23. 

The Philistines, who resided in the south-western portion 
of the land, belonged to a different stratum of population 
from either of the preceding. The name properly means 
"emigrants" or "aliens." They were descended, not from 
Canaan, but from Mizraim, another son of Ham. Gen. x. 
14. According to Amos ix. 7, they came from Caphtor, 



164 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

(which has been variously identified with Cappadocia, with 
the island of Crete and with a portion of Egypt), and seized 
upon the territory previously possessed by the Avims (Deut. 
ii. 23) in the region of Azza — that is, Gaza. The Philis- 
tines are spoken of as early as the time of Abraham (Gen. 
xxi. 34) and Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 1) in the region of Beer- 
sheba and Gerar; also at the time of the Exodus as hold- 
ing the direct route from Egypt to Palestine. They were 
not conquered by Joshua, and he does not even seem to 
have come into collision with them, as they are not men- 
tioned in any of his battles. They are but once referred to 
in the book of Joshua (xiii. 2, 3), and that simply as a peo- 
ple to be subdued. In the period of the Judges they for a 
time gained the ascendency over Israel, until their power 
was broken by Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 13), and they were still 
further humbled by Saul and by David. They were not 
exterminated, however, and we hear of them in the reigns 
of the later kings as sometimes tributary and sometimes 
making incursions and predatory forays. They are once 
spoken of by Zechariah (ix. 6) after the return from the 
Babylonish exile, but from that time they vanish out of 
history. 

When Israel took possession of Canaan, two tribes and a 
half were settled east of the Jordan, viz., Keuben on the 
south, Gad in the middle and the half tribe of Manasseh 
on the north. The other nine and a half tribes were 
located west of the Jordan ; Judah, Simeon, Dan and Ben- 
jamin were in the south; Ephraim, Issachar and the other 
half of Manasseh were in the middle or central portion 
of the land ; Zebulun, Asher and Naphtali were in the 
north. The tribe of Levi had no separate inheritance in 
the land, but forty-eight cities, with their suburbs, w T ere as- 
signed to them in the territory of the other tribes. Josh. xxi. 

This partition among the tribes w y as, at the time of the 
schism of Jeroboam, superseded by another, or rather a 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 165 

fresh division of yet greater political importance was super- 
induced upon it, viz., that into two rival and often hostile 
kingdoms. Ten tribes adhered to the northern section, 
which was called the kingdom of Israel, and sometimes 
the kingdom of Ephraini, from the preponderance of that 
powerful tribe. Judah and Benjamin adhered to the south- 
ern, which was called the kingdom of Judah. 

Under the Romans and in the times of the New Testa- 
ment the current division was into Judea, Samaria and 
Galilee on the west of Jordan, and Perea on the east of 
Jordan. The name Perea does not occur in the New Tes- 
tament, but it is referred to as the region beyond Jordan. 
Matt. iv. 25. 



LESSON III 
CITIES. 



The cities, towns and villages of Palestine may be con- 
veniently grouped in four lines from north to south, corre- 
sponding to the main physical features of the country as 
already described. Omitting those which are rarely men- 
tioned in the Bible, or which are of little consequence, we 
shall give a cursory view of the principal places situated — 
1. On the plain along the sea-coast ; 2. On the central high- 
lands west of the Jordan ; 3. In the plain of the Jordan ; 
4. On the highlands east of the Jordan. 

Cities near the Sea-coast. 

Proceeding from the north southward, we first come to 
three cities commonly reckoned as belonging to Phenicia 
rather than to Palestine, viz. : 

Zidon or Sidon, which was assigned to Asher, though 
never conquered and occupied by that tribe. Judg. i. 31. 



166 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Zarephath or Sarepta, the village where Elijah was nour- 
ished by the widow. 1 Kings xvii. 9 ; Luke iv. 26. 

Tyre was founded by a colony from Zidon, which in the 
time of Joshua still maintained its original superiority, and 
is hence called "great Zidon " (Josh. xi. 8; xix. 29); but 
by the days of David and Solomon, Tyre had outstripped 
the mother city, and had become the capital of Phenicia. 
1 Kings v. 1, 6. Tyre was famous in antiquity not only for 
its extensive trade, but for the sieges which it sustained. 
Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, besieged it for five years 
without being able to reduce it. Nebuchadnezzar, king of 
Babylon, besieged it for thirteen years. Alexander the 
Great reduced it after a siege of seven months. The city 
has long since ceased to exist, and is, as was predicted, a 
place for the spreading of nets. Ezek. xxvi. 5. 

Accho lay across the bay from Mount Carmel. It be- 
longed to the tribe of Asher, though it was not conquered 
by them. Judg. i. 31. In the New Testament it is called 
Ptolemais, and is mentioned in the travels of the apostle 
Paul. Acts xxi. 7. Under its modern name, Acre, it was 
famous in the history of the Crusaders, and was held by 
them for some time after the rest of Palestine had been 
abandoned. 

South of the promontory of Carmel we find Cresarea, 
so called by Herod in honor of Augustus Caesar, and com- 
monly known as Csesarea Palsestina, to distinguish it from 
Csesarea Philippi, which lay at the foot of Mount Hermon, 
near the sources of the Jordan, and was so called from 
Philip, the tetrarch of that region (Luke iii. 1), who named 
it Csesarea in honor of Tiberias Csesar. Csesarea Philippic 
is mentioned in our Lord's history (Matt. xvi. 13 ; Mark 
viii. 27), as he was once in its vicinity. Csesarea of Pales- 
tine is spoken of repeatedly in the Acts of the Apostles. 
The evangelist Philip, one of the seven original deacons, 
resided there (Acts viii. 40 ; xxL 8), so did Cornelius the 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 167 

centurion (Acts x. 1); here Herod Agrippa came to his 
miserable end (Acts xii. 13, ff.), and it is several times men- 
tioned in the narrative both of Paul's travels and of his 
imprisonment, being the residence of the Roman governors 
of Judea. 

Antipatris is the place to which Paul was sent by the 
chief captain of Jerusalem on his way to Csesarea after his 
arrest. Acts xxiii. 31. 

Joppa or Japho (Josh. xix. 46) lay in the border of the 
territory assigned to Dan. The cedars of Lebanon were 
conveyed by sea to this place for building Solomon's tem- 
ple (2 Chron. ii. 16), and again after the exile for building 
the second temple. Ezra iii. 7. Jonah took ship from Joppa 
when fleeing from the presence of the Lord. Jon. i. 3. 
Peter here restored Tabitha to life (Acts ix. 36, ff.), and he 
saw here the vision of the sheet let down from heaven. 
Acts x. 

Lydda or Lod (Neh. xi. 35) lay in the vicinity of Joppa, 
on the road to Jerusalem ; here Peter restored Eneas. Acts 
ix. 32, ff. 

The neighboring Ramleh is by many regarded as the 
Arimathea of the New Testament (Matt, xxvii. 57) and the 
Ramathaim-Zophim of 1 Sam. i. 19, also often called Ra- 
man, where the prophet Samuel was born, lived and died, 
though their identity is disputed. 

Then follow the five cities of the Philistines (1 Sam. vi. 
17), which may be traced in a circuit in alphabetical order: 
Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath, Gaza. 

Cities of the Western Highland. 

These are mostly situated on the crest which divides the 
eastern from the western declivity, or the waters flowing 
east from those flowing west, the summits having been built 
upon because they were the most impregnable and easily 
defensible positions. This too is the main traveled route 



168 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

from south to north. Beginning at the south and proceed- 
ing northward, we come first to — 

Ziklag, in the southern boundary of Judah, according to 
the original apportionment (Josh. xv. 31), afterward trans- 
ferred to Simeon (Josh, xix. 5), presented to David by 
Achish, king of Gath (1 Sam. xxvii. 6), and sacked by the 
Amalekites, whom David chastised in consequence. 1 Sam. 
xxx. David was in Ziklag at the time of Saul's death. 
2 Sam. i. 1. 

Beersheba received its name from Abraham (Gen. xxi. 31), 
and is repeatedly mentioned in the sojournings of the patri- 
archs ; from the sacredness thus attached to it, it became one of 
the chief seats of idolatry, and is so spoken of by the prophet , 
Amos. v. 5 ; viii. 4. It lay near the southern border of Pales- 
tine, as did Dan near the northern ; whence the phrase "from 
Dan to Beersheba" (Judg. xx. 1) denoted the entire land. 

Hebron, called by the Canaanites Kirjath-arba or city 
of Arba (Josh. iv. 15), was for some time the abode of 
Abraham. Gen. xiii. 18. Here, in the cave of Machpelah, 
Abraham and Sarah were buried, as well as Isaac and Re- 
bekah, Jacob and Leah. Gen. xlix. 31. In the division 
of the land it was given to Caleb as his possession (Josh, 
xiv. 14), and was one of the cities of refuge west of the 
Jordan (Josh. xx. 7), the other two being Shechem, in the 
centre of the land, and Kedesh, in the north. David reigned 
here over Judah seven years and six months (2 Sam. ii. 11), 
and was here anointed king over all Israel (2 Sam. v. 3), 
after which he transferred his capital to Jerusalem. It was 
at Hebron that Absalom began his rebellion. 2 Sam. xv. 10. 

Bethlehem, also called Ephrath and Bethlehem-judah, to 
distinguish it from another Bethlehem of little note in the 
tribe of Zebulun. Near this place Rachel was buried. 
Gen. xxxv. 19. Here Elimelech and Naomi lived (Ruth 
i. 1), and hither Naomi returned with Ruth after a tempo- 
rary sojourn in the land of Moab (Ruth i. 22), and here 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 169 

David was born. 1 Sam. xvii. 12. But Bethlehem is 
chiefly distinguished as the birthplace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ (Matt. ii. 1), agreeably to the prophecy of Micah. 
v. 2. 

Jerusalem, originally called Salem (Gen. xiv. 18), and 
during the Jebusite occupation Jebus (Judg. xix. 10), was 
made by David the capital of his kingdom and the relig- 
ious centre of the nation after the expulsion of the Jebusites. 
2 Sam. v. 6-9. 

In the neighborhood of Jerusalem, toward the east, lay 
Bethany, the residence of Lazarus and his sisters (John 
xi. 18) ; Nob, where Ahimelech the priest gave David the 
shew-bread and the sword of Goliath (1 Sam. 21), in con- 
sequence of which all the inhabitants of the place were put 
to death by Saul; and Anathoth, a city of the priests 
within the limits of Benjamin (Josh. xxi. 18), to which 
Abiathar was banished by King Solomon (1 Kings ii. 26), 
and where the prophet Jeremiah was born. Jer. i. 1. 

To the west of Jerusalem lay Mizpeh, where the children 
of Israel assembled themselves before the Lord, when they 
went up to war against Benjamin (Judg. xx. 1 ; xxi. 1), 
where Samuel gained his great victory over the Philistines 
(1 Sam. vii. 10), and where Saul was chosen king (1 Sam. 
ii. 17, ffi); Emmaus, whither our Lord walked with two 
disciples after his resurrection (Luke xxiv. 13), and which 
should not be confounded with another Emmaus, also called 
Nicopolis, on the road to Lydda and Joppa, which is no- 
where mentioned in the Old or New Testament, though it is 
in the Apocrypha and by Josephus ; and Gibeon, whose in- 
habitants made peace with Joshua by a stratagem (Josh. ix. 
3), and which was subsequently a city of the priests (Josh. 
xxi. 17), and where the tabernacle of Moses was tempo- 
rarily located. 2 Chron. i. 3. 

Again proceeding northward from Jerusalem by the 
main route, we come to — 

15 



170 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Gibeah, called also Gibeah of Benjamin and Gibeah of 
Saul, to distinguish it from other places of this name in 
different parts of the land. Here the crime was committed 
in the period of the judges which led to the almost total 
extinction of the tribe of Benjamin. Judg. ch. xix, xx. 
Here King Saul resided (1 Sam. x. 26), and here seven of 
Saul's descendants were executed to appease the Gibeonites. 
2 Sam. xxi. 6. 

Raman was near Gibeah (Judg. xix. 13), and w T as forti- 
fied by Baasha, king of Israel, as a border city between the 
two kingdoms. 1 Kings xv. 17. This is not to be confounded 
with the Ramah where the prophet Samuel lived, which 
has not been certainly identified, though it may have been 
the same with the modern Ramleh. 

Beeroth, in the Canaanitish period subject to Gibeon 
(Josh. ix. 17) ; the murderers of Ishbosheth, the son of 
Saul, were natives of this place. 2 Sam. iv. 2. 

Bethel, originally called Luz, where God appeared twice 
to Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 11, ff. ; xxxv. 15), and where the ark 
was kept temporarily. Judg. xx. 26, 27. [" The house of 
God" (ver. 26) is properly "Bethel."] It was one of the 
places where the prophet Samuel judged. 1 Sam. vii. 16. 
The worship of the golden calves was set up here and at 
Dan, in the north of the land, by Jeroboam (1 Kings xii. 
28, 29) ; the idolatry of Bethel was finally abolished by 
Josiah. 2 Kings xxiii. 15. 

Shiloh, where the ark and the tabernacle remained from 
the time of Joshua (Josh, xviii. 1) to that of Samuel. 1 
Sam. iv. 4. 

Shechem, spoken of several times in the history of the 
patriarchs, a Levitical city and a city of refuge. Josh. xxi. 
21. Here Joshua delivered his last address to the people. 
Josh. xxiv. 1. Jeroboam made it his residence after the 
schism. 1 Kings xii. 25. In John (iv. 5) it is called Sychar ; 
it was there that our Lord conversed with the woman of 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 171 

Samaria beside Jacob's well. It was subsequently called 
Neapolis, and in modern times this has been corrupted to 
Nablus. 

Samaria, built by Omri, king of Israel (1 Kings xvi. 24), 
from which time it was the capital of the ten tribes, until 
the kingdom was finally overthrown by Shalmaneser, king 
of Assyria. 2 Kings xviii. 9, 10. 

Jezreel, w r hich gives name to the valley on the edge of 
which it lies. Here Ahab had a palace, here was the vine- 
yard of Naboth which Ahab coveted (1 Kings xxi. 1), and 
here King Joram, Jezebel and the whole house of Ahab 
were slain by Jehu. 2 Kings eh. ix., x. 

A short distance westward in the valley is Megiddo, 
where King Josiah was slain in battle w T ith Pharaoh-necho, 
king of Egypt. 2 Kings xxiii. 29. 

Shunem, where the Philistines encamped against Saul 
prior to his last battle (1 Sam. xxviii. 4), and where the 
woman lived who entertained Elisha, and whose son he 
raised from the dead. 2 Kings iv. 8. 

Nam, where our Lord restored the widow's son. Luke 
vii. 11. 

Endor, where Saul consulted the woman with a familiar 
spirit. 1 Sam. xxviii. 7. 

Nazareth, where our Lord's childhood was passed. Luke 
iv. 16. 

Gath-hepher, the residence of the prophet Jonah. 2 Kings 
xiv. 25. 

Cana, where our Lord's first miracle w 7 as wrought. John 
ii. 1. 

Kedesh, a Levitical city and a city of refuge (Josh. xxi. 
32), and the residence of Barak. Judg. iv. 6. 

Cities in the Plain of the Jordan. 
Beginning in the north and proceeding southward we find — 
Dan, also called Laish or Leshem, first mentioned in the 



172 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

life of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 14), taken possession of by a 
party of Danites, though the proper territory of their tribe 
lay in the south of the land. Josh. xix. 47 ; Judg. xviii. 29. 
It was one of the chief seats of the worship of the golden 
calves established by Jeroboam. 1 Kings xii. 29. 

Csesarea Philippi, already spoken of as distinguished from 
Cassarea Palsestina on the coast. 

Then follow several places on the shores of the Lake of 
Gennesaret familiar from the history of our Lord's min- 
istry — Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum (Matt. xi. 21, 23), 
Magdala (Matt. xv. 39), Dalmanutha (Mark viii. 10), 
Tiberias (John vi. 23), and, on the other side of the lake, 
Gadara. Luke viii. 26. 

Beth-shan, where Saul's body was fastened to the wall 
of the town, and thus publicly exposed by the Philistines. 
1 Sam. xxxi. 10. Its later name, Scythopolis, has been 
thought to confirm the statement of Herodotus that the 
Scythians once made an irruption into this region. 

Bethabara, where John baptized (John i. 28), probably 
the same as Beth-barah (Judg. vii. 24), where Gideon 
checked the Midianites at the crossing of the Jordan. 

Jericho, also called the city of palm trees (Deut. xxxi v. 
3), was the first city taken by Joshua. Josh. ch. vi. The 
curse pronounced on him who should rebuild the walls 
miraculously thrown down (Josh. vi. 26) was fulfilled upon 
Hiel the Bethel ite. 1 Kings xvi. 34. Sons or pupils of the 
prophets were residing in Jericho in the time of Elijah and 
Elisha (2 Kings ii. 5) ; here Elisha healed the fountain by 
casting in salt (2 Kings ii. 21); here King Zedekiah was over- 
taken when attempting to flee from the Chaldeans (2 Kings 
xxv. 5) ; here our Lord was the guest of Zaccheus (Luke xix. 
1-5) and cured the blindness of Bartimeus. Luke xviii. 35. 

Gilgal was the first encampment of Israel in the promised 
land. Josh. iv. 19. Sacrifices were offered here by Samuel 
(1 Sam. x. 8; xi. 15) and by Saul. 1 Sam. xiii. 7-9. This 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE, 173 

was one of the places of Samuel's judgment. 1 Sam. vii. 16. 
Agag, king of the Amalekites, was here hewed to death by 
Samuel before the Lord. 1 Sam. xv. 33. Judah came to 
Gilgal to meet King David returning after the death of 
Absalom, 2 Sam. xix. 16. It is also mentioned in the life of 
Elijah (2 Kings ii. 1), and was the scene of one of Elisha's 
miracles. 2 Kings iv. 38. There was another Gilgal in the 
vicinity of Antipatris, to which it has been supposed by 
several scholars that some of these events are to be referred. 

En-gedi lay on the western shore of the Dead Sea. David 
concealed himself in the adjacent wilderness when pursued 
by Saul. 1 Sam. xxiv. 1. Here Ammon, Moab and Edom 
combined against Jehoshaphat when he gained his signal 
victory over them. 2 Chron. xx. 2. 

The Dead Sea covers the sites of the cities of the plain 
which God overthrew by fire from heaven — Sodom and 
Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim. Deut. xxix. 23. Zoar was 
spared at Lot's intercession when the rest were consumed. 
Gen. xix. 21, 22. 

Kadesh-barnea was on the southern border of Palestine. 
Num. xxxiv. 4. It was from this place the spies were sent 
who brought back an evil report of the land. Num. xiii. 26. 
Here Miriam died (Num. xx. 1) and Moses and Aaron 
committed the trespass which excluded them from the 
promised land. Num. xx. 12. 

Cities East of the Jordan. 

Beginning in the south and proceeding northward — • 
Machserus was a strong fortress east of the Dead Sea which 
is not named in the Bible, but where, according to Jose- 
phus, John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed. 

Ramoth-gilead, a Levitical city (Josh. xxi. 38), and one 
of the three cities of refuge east of the Jordan (Josh. xx. 
8), the other two being Bezer in the south and Golan in 
the north. Here Ahab was slain in battle by the Syrians 
(1 Kings xxii. 29-34), Joram, the son of Ahab, was 

15* 



174 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

wounded (2 Kings viii. 28), and Jehu was anointed king 
over Israel by Elisha's direction. 2 Kings ix. 1, 2. 

Mahanaim, where Jacob was met by the angels of God 
as he was returning to Canaan from Padan-aram (Gen. 
xxxii. 2), where Ishbosheth, Saul's son, was made king in 
opposition to David (2 Sam. ii. 8), and whither David fled 
when pursued by Absalom. 2 Sam. xvii. 24. 

Jabesh-gilead, from which wives were taken for the rem- 
nant of Benjamin in the general massacre of the tribe. 
Judg. xxi. 14. It was threatened by the Ammonites and 
relieved by Saul. 1 Sam. xi. 1-11. Its inhabitants took the 
bodies of Saul and his sons from the scene of their shame- 
ful exposure by the Philistines, and buried them. 1 Sam. 
xxxi. 11-13. 



LESSON IV. 
OTHER BIBLE LANDS. 

Antediluvian geography embraces the garden of Eden 
(Gen. ii. 8, ff.), with its four rivers, the Pison, which com- 
passed the land of Havilah, the Gihou, which compassed 
the land of Cush,* the Hiddekel and the Euphrates ; also 
the land of Nod (Gen. iv. 19), to which Cain was banished, 
and the city of Enoch (ver. 17), built by him. None of 
these can be certainly identified at the present time, except 
the two rivers the Euphrates and the Hiddekel, which is 
the Hebrew name for the Tigris. Dan. x. 4. 

After the flood the ark rested upon' the mountains of 
Ararat (Gen. viii. 4), which is not in the Bible the name 
of a single peak, but of the high table-land of Armenia 

*See the margin of the English version. It is not the Ethiopia 
known to later history which is intended, but some region now un- 
known, which was occupied by Cush (Gen. x. 7), or a portion of his 
descendants. 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 175 

(2 Kings xix. 37 ; Jer. li. 27), which contains the sources 
of the Euphrates and Tigris. On the banks of the former, 
in the lower portion of its course, lay the land of Shinar 
(Gen. xi, 2), where the tower of Babel was built, whose 
site was subsequently enclosed in the great city of Babylon. 
In the days of Abraham the king of Shinar, with others, 
invaded Canaan. Gen. xiv. 1. A goodly Babylonish gar- 
ment is mentioned among the spoils of the city of Jericho 
when it was taken by Joshua. Josh. vii. 21. Babylon 
reached its greatest splendor and the height of its power 
under Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv. 30), by whom Jerusalem 
was destroyed and Judah carried into captivity. Its superb 
palaces and other structures, and the vast compass and 
height of its walls, made it the wonder of the world. After 
its capture by Cyrus (Isa. xlv. 1) it gradually declined 
until it became an utter desolation. Isa. xiii. 19, ff. The 
cities of Erech, Accad and Calneh (or Calno, Isa. x. 9), 
which, with Babel, formed the beginning of Nimrod's king- 
dom, were also in the land of Shinar. Gen. x. 10. So was 
the plain of Dura (Dan. iii. 1), where Nebuchadnezzar set 
up his golden image. 

Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, an exceeding great city 
of three days' journey (Jon. iii. 3), lay on the eastern bank 
of the Tigris. Rehoboth, Calah and Resen (Gen. x. 11, 
12) were in the same vicinity. Cuthah, Ava (or Ivah), 
Sepharvaim (2 Kings xvii. 24) and Hena (xix. 13) were 
on or near the Euphrates, and subject to the king of 
Assyria. 

Media is in the Bible commonly associated with Persia, 
to which it was united under Cyrus and his successors. 
Dan. v. 28 ; Esth. i. 3. The captive Israelites were located 
by the king of Assyria in the cities of the Medes, and by 
Habor, the river of Gozan. 2 Kings xvii. 6. Whether this 
is the same as the river Chebar (Ezek. iii. 15), where the 
captives of Judah were subsequently settled, is disputed. 



176 , PREPARING TO TEACH. 

The capital of Media was Achmetha (Ezra vi. 2), or 
Ecbatana ; this was the royal residence of Cyrus, where, 
accordingly, the official records of his reign were preserved. 
Elam was at first an independent kingdom (Gen. xiv. 1), 
but was afterward incorporated in the Persian empire. 
Its chief city, Shush an, near the river Ulai (Dan. viii. 2), 
was the residence of Darius and the later Persian kings. 
Parthians are mentioned (Acts ii. 9), along with Medes and 
Elamites, as present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. 
India is once mentioned in the Bible (Esth. i. 1), and it has 
even been conjectured that China is referred to under the 
name of Sinim. Isa. xlix. 12. 

The district between the Tigris and Euphrates, north of 
Babylonia, is known as Mesopotamia (Gen. xi. 10), or 
Padan-aram. Gen. xxv. 20. Here was Haran (Gen. xi. 31), 
to which Terah, the father of Abraham, removed from Ur 
of the Chaldees, which some likewise place in this same 
region, though others, with greater probability, seek for it 
further south, in Chaldea proper or Babylonia. Pethor, the 
native place of Balaam, was in Mesopotamia. Deut. xxiii. 4. 
So was Carchemish on the Euphrates, where Nebuchadnezzar 
gained a victory over Pharaoh-necho. 2 Chron. xxxv. 20 ; 
Jer. xlvi. 2. 

Padan-aram, literally, the plain of Aram, is a part of 
the territory called Aram (Num. xxiii. 7), or Syria, in the 
Old Testament, where this term is used in its widest sense 
as extending from Lebanon to the Tigris. Hence Bethuel 
and Laban are called Syrians because they resided in 
Padan-aram. Gen. xxv. 20. More commonly the term is 
restricted to the territory west of the Euphrates ; and so 
understood, it was in the time of Saul and David divided 
into several minor states or kingdoms, as Bethrehob, Zobah, 
Maacah (2 Sam. x. 6), Geshur (2 Sam. xiii. 37 ; xv. 8) 
and Damascus. 2 Sam. viii. 6. Tiphsah, on the Euphrates, 
is spoken of (1 Kings iv. 24) as marking the eastern limit 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 177 

of Solomon's dominions. Tadmor, built by Solomon in the 
wilderness, is known in later times as Palmyra. Damascus, 
in a fertile plain watered by the Abana and Pharpar (2 
Kings v. 12), is at least as old as the time of Abraham. 
Gen. xv. 2. Ittvas subdued by David (2 Sam. viii. 6), but 
recovered its independence under Solomon (1 Kings xi. 24), 
and was subsequently the capital of a formidable power. 
To this city Paul was going at the time of his conversion 
(Acts ix. 3), and he lodged there in the street which was 
called Straight. It was at this time subject to Aretas, an 
Arabian king. 2 Cor. xii. 32. Antioch, on the river Orontes, 
was the city where the disciples were first called Christians 
(Acts xi. 26), and from which the apostle Paul set forth on 
his missionary journeys. Its seaport was Seleucia, at the 
mouth of the river, whence Paul and Barnabas sailed for 
Cyprus. Hamath, called by the prophet Amos (vi. 2) 
Hamath the Great, was situated on the Orontes, about mid- 
way between Antioch and the source of the river. The 
entrance of Hamath, repeatedly mentioned as the limit of 
the promised land (Num. xxxiv. 8 ; 1 Kings viii. 65), is 
either a stream or depression by which Hamath was readily 
reached from the sea-coast. Still higher on the Orontes 
was Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where Jehoahaz was 
put in chains by the king of Egypt (2 Kings xxiii. 33), 
and the eyes of Zedekiah were put out by Nebuchadnezzar. 
' 2 Kings xxv. 7. 

We shall now pass from countries east of Palestine to 
those which lay south of it. South of the territory of 
Israel, east of the Jordan, and separated from it by the Ar- 
non, lay the land of Moab, with its cities Kir of Moab and 
Ar of Moab (Isa. xv. 1) ; the former was also called Kir- 
hareseth. Isa. xvi. 7. The southern limit of Moab was the 
brook or valley of Jared. Num. xxi. 12. Next follows the 
mountainous district of Edom or Idumea, also called Mount 
Seir, which extends to the northern extremity of the Red Sea. 



178 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Mount Hor, where Aaron died (Num. xx. 23), is one of its 
most conspicuous summits. Its ports, Ezion-geber and Elath, 
are first mentioned at the time of the Exodus. Deut. ii. 8. In 
the former Solomon built his navy of ships^for foreign trade. 
1 Kings ix. 26. The latter, having been in the possession of 
Judah from the conquest of Edom by David (2 Sam. viii. 14) 
till its revolt in the reign of Joram (2 Kings viii. 22), was 
again restored to Judah and fortified by Uzziah (2 Kings xix. 
22), though it at a later period fell into the hands of the Syr- 
ians. 2 Kings xvi. 6. Bozrah, near its northern border (Gen. 
xxxvi. 33 ; Isa. xxxiv. 6), and Sela (Isa. xxxiv. 6) were its 
principal cities. Sela was taken by King Amaziah, and called 
by him Joktheel (2 Kings xiv. 7) ; at a later time it was the 
residence of the Nabathean king Aretas. 2 Cor. xi. 32. It 
is the same as the Roman Petra, from which this portion of 
Arabia received the name of Arabia Petrsea. Teman was 
either a town or a district in the south of Edom ; the precise 
location of Dedan is uncertain. Jer. xlix. 7, 8. Mount 
Seir is skirted on the west by the valley which extends 
southward from the Dead Sea to the eastern arm of the 
Red Sea. Between this and the Mediterranean lies the 
desolate region known as the wilderness of Paran (Gen. xxi. 
21) ; its western portion, adjacent to the laud of Egypt, was 
also called the wilderness of Shur (Ex. xv. 22), or of Etham. 
Num. xxxiii. 8. This was occupied by roving tribes of 
Amalekites and others (1 Sam. xxvii. 8), and was drained 
by the river of Egypt (1 Kings viii. 65), which was not the 
Nile, but the modern wady el-Arish, and marked the 
boundary between Egypt and Palestine. 

Between the two projecting arms of the Red Sea lies the, 
peninsula of Sinai, so named from Mount Sinai, near its 
southern extremity, where the law of God was given to 
Israel (Ex. xix. 18), and which was an individual summit 
in the mass of mountains collectively called Horeb. Ex. 
iii. 1. The adjacent portion of the desert was -known as 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 179 

the wilderness or desert of Sinai (Ex. xix. 1, 2), between 
which and Etham lay the wilderness of Sin. Ex. xvi. 1 ; 
Num. xxxiii. 11. 

Sheba, whose queen was attracted by the fame of Solomon 
(1 Kings x. 1), was in Southern Arabia. It has been dis- 
puted whether Ophir, which was so famous for its gold (Job 
xxviii. 16), and which was visited by Solomon's vessels (1 
Kings ix. 28), was in Arabia, Africa or India. 

If we except Mesopotamia, from which Abraham removed 
to Canaan, no Gentile land is more intimately associated 
with the early history of the chosen race than Egypt. 
Abraham went down thither when there was a famine in 
Canaan (Gen. xii. 10) ; so did Jacob and his family, who 
were settled in the land of Goshen, in that part of Egypt 
which was nearest Palestine. On, where Joseph's father-in- 
law was priest (Gen. xli. 45), was a city of Lower Egypt near 
the head of the delta of the Nile. It was called Beth- 
shemesh (house of the sun) by Jeremiah (xliii. 13), and by 
the Greeks Heliopolis (city of the sun). Pithom and 
Raamses w T ere treasure-cities built by the Israelites for 
Pharaoh. Ex. i. 11. Pi-hahiroth, Migdol and Baal-zephon 
(Ex. xiv. 2) are mentioned in the march of Israel out of 
Egypt, and lay near the eastern frontier. Sin (Ezek. xxx. 
15), or Pelusium, which is called by Ezekiel the strength 
of Egypt, lay near the eastern or Pelusiac mouth of the 
Nile, and gave name to the adjacent wilderness of Sin. Ex. 
xvi. 1. Tahpanhes, to which the wretched remnant of Jews 
fled after the destruction of Jerusalem and the murder of 
Gedaliah (Jer. xliii. 7), was upon the same branch of the 
Nile. Pi-beseth (Ezek. xxx. 17) and Zoan, which is said 
in Num. xiii. 22 to have been built seven years after He- 
bron, were on a canal connecting the Pelusiac arm of the 
Nile with the sea. Alexandria, the birthplace of Apollos 
(Acts xviii. 24), was the capital of Egypt under the Ptole- 
mies, and was founded by Alexander the Great, whose name 



180 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

it bears. Botli the ship in which Paul was wrecked (Acts 
xxvii. 6) and that in which he sailed from Malta to Italy 
(xxviii. 11) were from Alexandria. Memphis, also called 
Noph (Isa. xix. 13), the capital of Lower Egypt, was in the 
vicinity of the pyramids and ancient tombs. Hos. ix. 6. 
Hanes (Isa. xxx. 4) is by some placed. a short distance south 
of Memphis, and by others identified with Tahpanhes, al- 
ready mentioned. Pathros (Ezek. xxix. 14) probably de- 
notes Upper Egypt, and No (Jer. xlvi. 25), or No-amon 
(English version, populous No, Nah. iii. 8), was its cele- 
brated capital, known to the Greeks as Thebes. Syene was 
on the southern border of Egypt, whence "from Migdol to 
Syene" designated the land throughout its entire extent. 
Ezek. xxix. 10 ; xxx. 6 (in the margin of the English 
version). Beyond Syene lay Ethiopia, which was often 
united with Egypt under the same king. This was the 
case under Zerah, who invaded Judah in the time of King 
Asa (2 Chron. xiv. 9), and Tirhakah, the antagonist of 
Sennacherib. 2 Kings xix. 9. Seba, though sometimes dis- 
tinguished from Ethiopia (Isa. xliii. 3; xlv. 14), was more 
commonly included under it ; it denotes the so-called island 
of Meroe, beyond the rivers of Ethiopia (Isa. xviii. 1) — that 
is to say, the tongue of land included between the two main 
branches of the Nile. Philip baptized a eunuch of Candace, 
queen of the Ethiopians (Acts viii. 27, ff.), as an earnest 
and first fruits of the promise, " Ethiopia shall soon stretch 
out her hands unto God." Ps. Ixviii. 31. 

The entire north of Africa, west of Egypt, went by 
the general name of Libya. Libyan troops are spoken 
of in the armies of Egypt. Jer. xlvi. 9. One of its 
principal cities was Cyrene, from which Simon came, 
who bare the cross of Jesus. Mark xv. 21. There was 
a synagogue in Jerusalem composed wholly or in part 
of Cyrenians. Acts vi. 9. Men from this city and its 
neighborhood were present on the day of Pentecost (Acts 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 181 

ii. 10), and were subsequently active in spreading the gos- 
pel, xi. 20. 

North and west from Palestine lay Asia Minor, Europe 
and the islands of the Mediterranean and iEgean Seas. 

There are twelve divisions of Asia Minor commonly recog- 
nized. Three were on its southern coast, Cilicia, Pamphylia, 
Lycia; three on its western, Caria, Lydia, Mysia; three 
on its northern, Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Pontus ; and three 
in the interior, Cappaclocia, Galatia, Phrygia. The apostle 
Paul was born in Cilicia, in the city of Tarsus. Acts xxi. 
39. Perga, in Pamphylia, was the first city in Asia Minor 
visited by Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary jour- 
ney (Acts xiii. 13); Attalia, six miles distant on the coast, 
is the port at which they embarked on their return. Acts 
xiv. 25. From Patara, in Lycia, Paul sailed for Phoenicia 
on his way to Jerusalem. Acts xxi. 1. At Myra, as a pris- 
oner, he entered an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy. 
Acts xxvii. 5. Caria, Lydia and Mysia constituted the 
Roman province of Asia, and it is in this limited sense that 
the word Asia is used in the Xew Testament — e. g., Acts ii. 
9 ; xvi. 6, 7. The seven churches in Asia (Rev. i. 4) accord- 
ingly were in this region, viz. : Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, 
Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, though the 
last named was in Phrygia, and therefore farther inland 
than ihe rest. TrogyUium, mentioned in Paul's last mis- 
sionary journey (Acts xx. 15), and Miletus, where he took 
final leave of the Ephesian elders (v. 17), were on the coast 
of Lydia. Troas, from which Paul first sailed into Mace- 
donia (Acts xvi. 8), and where he restored Eutychus to life 
(xx. 19), was the capital of Mysia. When Paul proposed 
to go into Bithynia on his second missionary journey, the 
Spirit suffered him not (Acts xvi. 7), it being the will of 
God that he should pass on into Europe. The apostle 
Peter addressed his first Epistle to the strangers scattered 
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithy- 

1(5 



182 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ma. 1 Pet. i. 1. Dwellers in Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 
Phrygia and Pamphylia were in Jerusalem on the day of 
Pentecost. Acts ii. 9. Aquila, with whom Paul abode at 
Corinth and engaged in his occupation as a tent-maker, was 
born in Pontus. Acts xviii. 2. Galatia, to which the apostle 
Paul directed one of his Epistles, in its widest sense included 
Lycaonia and Pisidia, and consequently the cities of Antioch 
in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 14) — so called in distinction from 
Antioch in Syria — Iconium (xiv. 1), Lystra and Derbe 
(v. 6), visited by Paul and Barnabas in their first mission- 
ary journey. Colosse, to which one of Paul's Epistles was 
written, and Hierapolis (Col. iv. 13) were in Phrygia. 

Macedonia was the first country in Europe in which the 
gospel was preached by the apostle Paul (Acts xvi. 10), he 
having been directed thither by a special vision. He 
landed at Neapolis and proceeded at once to Philippi, so 
named from the father of Alexander the Great. Here he 
met Lydia of Thyatira, and his imprisonment led to the 
conversion of the jailer and his household. Acts xvi. 12, ff. 
He likewise visited Amphipolis, Apollonia, Thessalonica 
and Berea. From Berea he hastened to Greece, where he 
visited Athens and made his defence before the court of the 
Areopagus (Acts xvii. 15); also Corinth (xviii. 1), the 
chief city of Achaia, where he was brought before the 
judgment-seat of Gallio, and its seaport Cenchrea (v. 18), 
the residence of Phebe. Rom. xvi. 1. He also preached 
the gospel as far as lllyricum (Rom. xv. 19), which was west 
of Macedonia and bordered on the Adriatic Sea. Paul 
speaks (Titus iii. 12) of having resolved to spend a winter 
in Nicopolis, probably the city of that name in Epirus, 
south of lllyricum, though the subscription to the Epistle 
(which is, however, of little authority) refers it to a Nicopo- 
lis in Macedonia. 

Between lllyricum, on the one side, and Italy, on the 
other, lay the Adriatic Sea ; this name was sometimes 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 183 

extended to that portion of the Mediterranean bounded 
by Italy and Sicily on the west, Africa on the south, and 
Greece and Crete on the east. It is in this wide sense 
of the term that Paul and his fellow-passengers are said to 
have been driven up and down in Adria. Acts xxvii. 27. 

In Italy mention is made not only of Rome, but of 
the places through which Paul passed in journeying toward 
it, viz. : Rhegium, in the extreme south of the peninsula ; 
Puteoli, near Naples, where he landed; Appii Forum, which 
was thirty-five miles from Rome ; and The Three Taverns, 
which was five miles nearer the imperial city. 

The westernmost country spoken of in the Bible is Spain, 
which Paul proposed to visit, though it does not appear that 
his intention was ever carried into effect. Rom. xv. 24, 28. 
The Tarshish of the Old Testament for which Jonah set 
sail (Jon. i. 3), and to which Solomon traded, was probably 
a Phoenician colony in the south of Spain. 

The islands named in the Bible are Cyprus, the native 
country of Barnabas (Acts iv. 36), and over which Barna- 
bas and Paul passed from Sal amis, on its eastern coast, to 
Paphos, on its western ; Crete, with which many have iden- 
tified the Caphtor of the Old Testament, from which the 
Philistines originally came. Amos ix. 7. Here Paul left 
Titus to labor. Tit. i. 3. In Paul's last voyage mention is 
made (Acts xxvii. 7, 8) of the promontory of Salmone, at 
the north-eastern extremity of the island, and of Lasea, The 
Fair Havens and Phenice (v. 12), on its southern side. 
The island Clauda (v. 16), a short distance south of Crete, 
Rhodes, Coos (Acts xxi. 1), Patmos, to which the apostle 
John was banished (Rev. i. 9), Samos, Chios (Acts xx. 15), 
Lesbos, the capital of which was Mitylene (v. 14), and Sani- 
othracia (Acts xvi. 11) were in the Grecian Archipelago. 
Paul was shipwrecked on Melita or Malta (Acts xxviii. 1), 
and after leaving this island stopped at Syracuse on the 
eastern coast of Sicily, v. 12. 



ARCHEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 



LESSON I. 
FOOD. 



The archaeology of the Bible is an account of the cus- 
toms and usages described or referred to in the sacred 
volume. So far as these are different from those which pre- 
vail at the present day or amongst ourselves, a knowledge 
of them is important for the illustration of the passages in 
which these references occur, being sometimes essential to 
a right apprehension of their meaning and at others adding 
greatly to their force or beauty. Archaeology may be con- 
veniently divided into three parts, corresponding to three 
several spheres in which human life may be regarded as 
moving. We may consider man in a threefold aspect, as he 
is a member of the family or of the community or of the 
nation. The family has its domestic and social usages, 
which may therefore be held to constitute the first branch 
of archseology ; the second relates to the various trades 
and occupations practiced in the community ; and the 
third embraces the civil and political regulations belonging 
to the nation. 

The full and satisfactory discussion of these several 
themes would require a volume. We find ourselves unable 
to compress even the most meagre account of them into the 
few pages that are allotted to this subject in the plan of the 
present treatise. It will only be possible to present a few 

16*' 185 



186 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

topics as specimens and representatives of the whole. We 
shall accordingly make a selection from the first branch of 
the general subject, or domestic and social archaeology. 
This has its two divisions, viz., internal and external. The 
former relates to the constitution of the family itself, and 
concerns — 1. The bond of marriage, upon which the family 
is based. 2. The relationship which it creates of parents 
and children, masters and servants. 3. Its varied ex- 
periences of joy or sorrow, as connected with social inter- 
course, w 7 ith sickness or with death. The remaining divis- 
ion, which in contrast w T ith the preceding has been called, 
external — and it is to this that our attention shall be exclu- 
sively directed — is occupied with the provision made in the 
family for the supply of the outward physical necessities 
of its members, viz. : 1. Food; 2. Clothing; 3. Dwellings. 
As to the articles of food in ordinary use among the 
Hebrews, and the mode of their preparation, there is much 
that is obvious and common to them with ourselves. They 
subsisted partly, of course, upon the products of the soil, and 
partly upon such animal food as was accessible. Bread was 
with them, as with us, the staff of life (Isa. iii. 1), as is shown 
by the current phrase to " eat bread" for partaking of food. 
Gen. iii. 19 ; xxxi. 54. It was prepared from the various 
cereals, particularly wheat (Ps. lxxxi. 16), which was pre- 
ferred, and which is accordingly commonly meant when 
" corn" is spoken of in the Bible, as Gen. xlii. 1 ; though 
barley was also used (Judg. vii. 13 ; 2 Kings iv. 42), and 
in case of necessity poorer and coarser grains (Ezek. iv. 9) 
might be employed which in ordinary times w T ere only feel 
to cattle. Grain might be eaten in the ear in its natural 
state, as by the disciples of Jesus, who plucked it as they 
walked through the field (Luke vi. 1), or when newly ripe 
it might be parched or roasted, as by the reapers of Boaz. 
Ruth ii. 14. It was mostly, however, made into cakes or 
bread, and for this purpose was first beaten fine in mortars 



ABCILEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE, 187 

(Prow xxvii. 22) or ground into flour (Ex. xxix. 2) in 
the mill. Num. xi. 8. This latter was an article of ordi- 
nary domestic use, and consisted of two millstones, the 
nether, which was fixed (Job xli. 24), and the upper, which 
was movable, and was turned by women (Matt. xxiv. 41) 
or by slaves. Judg. xvi. 21; Lam, v. 13. Two sat facing 
each other, one of whom grasped the handle and impelled 
it halfway round ; then the other completed the revolution. 
In consequence of the menial character of this occupation 
the extremes of society are indicated in Ex. xi. 5 by saying 
" From Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne unto the maid- 
servant that is behind the mill." And the prophet Isaiah 
expressed the utmost degradation of the daughter of Babylon 
by bidding her to take the millstones and grind meal. Isa. 
xlvii. 2. The sound of the mill was daily heard in every 
house, so that its ceasing betokened desolation (Jer. xxv. 10; 
Rev. xviii. 22), and from its indispensable character it was 
forbidden to take a millstone in pledge for debt. Deut. xxiv. 
6. Larger mills were turned by asses ; and when Jesus 
speaks of a millstone being hanged about a man's neck and 
his being drowned in the sea (Matt, xviii. 6; Luke xvii. 2), 
the term used in the original Greek shows that it was one 
of this larger sort wdiich was intended. 

The flour thus prepared was baked, either leavened or 
unleavened (Gen. xix. 3 ; Ex. xii. 39), in the hot ashes or on 
heated stone (1 Kings xix. 6) or iron plates (Lev. vii. 9) or 
in a sort of ovens. Hos. vii. 4-6. These last were stone or 
earthen cylinders about three feet high, in which fire was 
made, and the dough was spread upon their heated exterior, 
or holes dug in the ground, in which bread or cakes, or, 
thinner still, w T afers (Lev. xxix. 23), were baked on the til- 
ing of the bottom or sides, after th'e fire had been drawn 
out and the ashes swept away. What are called loaves of 
bread were thin circular disks, which were not cut but 
broken. Lam. iv. 4 ; Matt, xiv, 19; xxvi. 26. Professional 



188 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

bakers are not only spoken of in royal households, as that 
of Pharaoh (Gen. xl. 1) and Saul (1 Sam. viii. 13), but there 
were likewise public ovens (Hos. vii. 4, 6), at least in the 
later portions of the Old Testament history ; and from the 
mention (Jer. xxxvii. 21) of the bakers' street, it would ap- 
pear that the usage then prevailed which is still maintained 
in Oriental cities of appropriating whole bazaars or rows of 
shops to certain trades or kinds of business. 

Various vegetables are mentioned, as lentiles, of which 
Jacob made pottage (Gen. xxv. 34), cucumbers, melons, 
leeks, onions and garlic, which the children of Israel had 
eaten in Egypt, and for which they longed in the desert 
(Num. xi. 5), beans (2 Sam. xvii. 8), garden plants (1 Kings 
xxi. 2), and plants growing wild which were gathered for 
food (2 Kings iv. 39 ; Prov. xv. 17) ; likewise fruit of differ- 
ent kinds (2 Sam. xvi. 1 ; Amos viii. 2), particularly apples 
(Sol. Song ii. 5), pomegranates (Num. xx. 5), grapes and 
figs (Matt. vii. 16), which were not only eaten fresh, but 
dried as raisins, or compacted into a solid mass as cakes of 
pressed grapes or figs. 1 Sam. xxv. 18. Grape cakes were 
esteemed very refreshing (Cant. ii. 5), and were distributed 
with other provisions among the people assembled at the re- 
moval of the ark to Zion (2 Sam. vi. 19) ; they are also 
mentioned among the delicacies associated with idolatry 
(Hos. iii. 1) ; in each of these passages the English version 
incorrectly has " bottles" or " flagons of wine." The word 
" dates " occurs (2 Chron. xxxi. 5) in the margin of the 
English Bible, though it is not the proper rendering of 
the original term ; the palm tree, which is repeatedly spoken 
of in Scripture (Deut. xxxiv. 3; Ps. xcii. 12), however, 
is the date-palm, and the use of its fruit, though not ex- 
pressly mentioned, is implied. Cant. vii. 8. Sycamore fruit 
was gathered and eaten only by the humbler classes. Amos 
vii. 14. Mention is also made of almonds and other species 
of nuts. Gen. xliii. 11 ; Cant. vi. 11. 



ARCHEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 189 

It has been made a question whether animal food was in 
use before the flood, inasmuch as it was not explicitly con- 
tained in the grant made to Adam (Gen. i. 29), while- it was 
in that made to ISToah and his descendants (Gen. ix. 3); though 
the keeping of sheep and cattle (Gen. iv. 2, 20), clothing 
made from skins (Gen. iii. 21) and the distinction between 
clean and unclean animals which was recognized prior to the 
flood (Gen. vii. 2, 8) seem to imply that it was made use of 
from the earliest periods. In so warm a climate as that of 
Palestine it was less necessary than in colder regions. And 
the fact that meat could be kept but a short time, and the 
whole animal had consequently to be eaten soon after being 
killed, added to the expense and led to its being but spar- 
ingly used, except upon the tables of the rich and great, as 
of King Solomon (1 Kings iv. 22, 23) or Nehemiah, the 
Persian viceroy (Neh. v. 18), or on special occasions of hos- 
pitality (Gen. xviii. 7), festivity (Luke xv. 23) or religious 
observance. Ex. xii. 8 ; Deut, xiv. 26 ; xv. 19, 20. The Jew- 
ish law forbade the eating of any but clean animals. Lev. 
xi. 2, ff ; Deut. xiv. 4, ff. These are among quadrupeds those 
which part the hoof and chew the cud, as oxen, sheep and 
goats, together with deer and some other kinds of game ; 
among fish — of which they had already learned to be fond 
in Egypt (Num. xi. 5), and which were supplied by the Sea 
of Galilee (Matt. iv. 18), as well as brought by Tyrians to 
the markets of Jerusalem (Neh.xiii. 16) — such only as have 
fins and scales ; among birds all but certain prohibited species, 
which were mostly birds of prey, or such as fed in marshes, 
or on worms, carcasses or other impurities. Quails, doves, 
partridges, sparrows and fatted fowl (1 Kings iv. 23), by which 
were probably meant geese or ducks, are mentioned in the 
Old Testament; chickens only in the New. Luke xiii. 34; 
xxii. 60. That eggs were eaten appears from Job vi. 6 ; 
Isa. x. 14 ; Luke xi. 12. Among insects, the esculent locust 
(Lev. xi. 22 ; Matt. iii. 4) was allowed to be eaten, as it still 



190 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

is by the poorer classes in Arabia and the East, by whom it 
is salted and cooked, or ground into flour and baked. The 
sacrificial system further made it unlawful to eat blood 
(Lev. vii. 26, 27 ; xvii. 10-14) or flesh in which the blood 
remained (1 Sam. xiv. 32), and by consequence animals 
strangled or killed by wild beasts (Ex. xxii. 31 ; Lev. xvii. 
15) ; also those fat pieces which were customarily burned 
upon the altar. Lev. iii. 17 ; vii. 23-25. The sinew was also 
extracted from the thigh for a special reason. Gen. xxxii. 32. 

The care of cattle is associated with the products of the 
dairy. The milk of cows, goats and sheep (Deut. xxxii. 15 ; 
Prov. xxvii. 27) was used in its natural state or made into 
cheese (1 Sam. xvii. 18 ; Job x. 10) or butter, the latter de- 
noting not merely butter in the modern sense (Prov. xxx. 
33), but more commonly curds, of which the Orientals are 
very fond. Judg. v. 25. Honey is often joined w T ith milk in 
describing the fertility and abundance of Canaan (Ex. iii. 
8), or, as in Isa. vii. 22, those natural means of subsistence 
which still remained when the country was ravaged and 
agriculture suspended. Besides the honey made by bees, 
which was often found wild (Deut. xxxii. 13 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 
25 ; Matt. iii. 4), there was also a honey artificially prepared ; 
at least it is the opinion of many scholars that this name 
was also applied, as by the modern Arabs, to a sweet syrup 
made from grape juice or from dates. Gen. xliii. 11 ; 2 Chron. 
xxxi. 5 ; Ezek. xxvii. 17. 

Oil and salt, though not themselves articles of food, were 
used in preparing and seasoning it. Lev. ii. 4 ; Job vi. 6. 
With allusion to its preserving quality, a " covenant of salt" 
(Num. xviii. 19; 2 Chron. xiii. 5) is a perpetual covenant, 
and the disciples of Christ are called the "salt of the earth." 
Matt. v. 13. As it is the opposite of both insipidity and 
corruption, the apostle directs that our speech should be 
always " seasoned with salt." Col. iv. 6. 

The drinks spoken of in addition to water and milk are 



ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 191 

wine, strong drink (Lev. x. 9, prepared from barley, honey 
or dates, and so called from its intoxicating properties), 
and vinegar, which was a sour wine. Num. vi. 3 ; Kuth ii. 
14. Wine when drunk was sometimes weakened with water 
(Isa. i. 22) in the proportion, as the Rabbins say, of three 
" parts of water to one of wine ; sometimes it was rendered 
more exciting by the infusion of spices. Prov. ix. 2, 5 ; 
Cant. viii. 2. Hence an ambiguity in the expression " mixed 
wine/' Thus the wrath of God is compared to wine "full of 
mixture" (Ps. lxxv. 8) — L e., with its strength increased by 
intensifying ingredients ; and it is said to be " poured out 
without mixture" (Rev. xiv. 10) — i. e. y undiluted. Wine 
also became stronger by being left upon its lees, when it re- 
quired to be strained to free it from dregs or insects. Isa. xxv. 
6 ; Matt, xxiii. 24. Sour wine mingled with myrrh or other 
bitter ingredients was sometimes given to those who were 
executed to stupefy them and render them insensible to suf- 
fering. Prov. xxxi. 6 ; Matt, xxvii. 34, 48. 

The chief meal of the ancient Egyptians was at noon, and 
accordingly Joseph dined at this hour (Gen. xliii. 1 6) ; so 
was the principal repast throughout the Old Testament, 
Ruth ii. 14 ; 1 Kings xx. 16. But in the New Testament 
the Greek and Roman custom prevailed of having the 
chief meal at night, and entertainments were generally sup- 
pers. Mark vi. 21; Luke xiv. 12, 16; John xii. 2. The 
primitive posture of the Hebrews, as of the Egyptians, at 
table was sitting. Thus Joseph's brethren sat when they 
ate with him (Gen. xliii. 33) ; Jacob invited his father to " sit 
and eat" (Gen. xxvii. 19) ; the Levite and his father-in-law 
in Bethlehem-judah " sat down and did eat and drink." Juda\ 
xix. 6. David sat at meat with Saul, and when absent left 
his seat empty (1 Sam. xx. 5, 18, 24) ; the man of God out 
of Judah " sat at the table " in Bethel. 1 Kings xiii. 20. At 
a later period luxurious livers adopted the fashion of reclin- 
ing; thus Amos (vi. 4) says that they "lie upon beds of 



192 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches " — not for 
sleep, as appears from what follows in the very same sen- 
tence — " and eat the lambs out of the flock and calves out of 
the stall." And the Persian origin of this new fashion is dis- 
tinctly intimated in the book of Esther (i. 6), where the ban- 
quet-hall of Ahasuerus is described as containing " beds" or 
couches. In our Saviour's day the universal custom was to 
recline on couches, called in Greek triclinia because they 
usually held three persons. The knowledge of this usage 
is absolutely necessary to explain how John could "lean on 
Jesus' bosom " at the table (John xiii. 23 ; xxi. 20) ; for as 
each person supported himself on his left arm, he was 
brought into this relation to the one who lay next to him. 
It also shows how the woman who anointed him had access 
to his feet. Luke vii. 38. Modern Orientals sit on their heels 
or with their legs crossed before a waiter placed upon a 
wooden stool about a foot high, or before a round piece of 
leather spread upon the floor and provided with rings in its 
outer edge, so that it can be drawn together like a bag and 
hung up after eating. It has been suggested that such a table 
might easily be likened to a snare. Ps. lxix. 22 ; Rom. xi. 9. 
In the absence of knives and forks, the food was taken with 
the fingers, which explains our Lord's expression, " He that 
dippeth his hand with me in the dish " (Matt. xxvi. 23), as 
well as his act of dipping the sop. John xiii. 26. Hence 
the hands were washed before and after each meal, which 
the Pharisees erected into an obligatory religious ceremony. 
Matt. xv. 2 ; Mark vii. 2, ff ; Luke xi. 38. Allusions to the 
usual practice of asking a blessing or giving thanks before 
eating occur in the case of Samuel (1 Sam. ix. 13), and re- 
peatedly in the history of our Lord. Matt. xiv. 19. 

When entertainments were given, invited guests were noti- 
fied by servants at the proper hour (Prov. ix. 3 ; Matt. xxii. 3, 
4) ; they were welcomed with a kiss upon their arrival (Luke 
vii. 45), their feet were washed (Gen. xviii. 4 ; Luke vii. 44), 



ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 193 

their hair and beard anointed (Ps. xxiii. 5 ; Amos vi. 6 ; Luke 
vii. 46), and places were assigned them at the table according 
to their rank. Gen. xliii. 33 ; 1 Sam. ix. 22 ; Luke xiv. 8, ff. 
As a mark of special honor choice pieces were sent them 
by the host (1 Sam. ix. 24), sometimes double the ordinary 
quantity (1 Sam. L 5), or even more. Gen. xliii. 34. As an 
illustration of the modes of diversion sometimes resorted 
to on such occasions may be mentioned the riddle pro- 
pounded at Samson's wedding. Judg. xiv. 12. Excess of 
revelry and riotous festivity were rebuked by the prophets. 
Isa. v. 11, 12; Amos vi. 4-6. In the Greek and Roman 
period the appliances of luxury had greatly increased, and 
musicians and dancing- women w r ere introduced to amuse or 
charm the guests. Matt. xiv. 6 ; Luke xv. 25. Christians are 
repeatedly warned against all improper indulgence. Rom. 
xiii. 13; Gal. v. 21 ; 1 Pet. iv. 3. Women and children 
were present at social entertainments (1 Sam. i. 4; John 
xii. 3), and at sacrificial meals men-servants and maid-ser- 
vants, Levites, strangers, the fatherless and widows were in- 
vited. Deut. xvi. 11, 14. Eating together was a pledge of 
friendship, and established a claim to protection. Josh. ix. 
14; Ps. xli. 9; John xiii. 18. 



LESSON II. 
CLOTHING. 



Our first parents sewed fig leaves for their covering 

(Gen. iii. 7), and the Lord made them coats of skins, ver. 

21. The materials for clothing subsequently mentioned in 

the Bible are wool, linen, cotton, silk and the hair of goats 

and camels. The use of wool for this purpose even in the 

most ancient times is implied in Abel's keeping sheep 
17 



194 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

(Gen. iv. 2), which was no doubt for the sake of their fleece 
as well as of their flesh, and especially in the shearing of 
sheep, which is expressly mentioned in the case of Laban 
(Gen. xxxi. 19), and of Judah. Gen. xxxviii. 12. Job 
clothed the poor with the fleece of his sheep (Job xxxi. 20), 
and Moses speaks of woolen garments as in common use. 
Lev. xiii. 47. The cultivation of flax is first alluded to 
during the sojourn in Egypt (Ex. ix. 31), where it was a 
staple article of trade and manufacture from a very early 
period. Its use among the Hebrews is shown in the direc- 
tion that the priests' garments should be of linen. Lev. xvi. 
4. The "fine linen" of the Bible, such as that with which 
Joseph was arrayed (Gen. xli. 42), and which was used in 
the construction of the tabernacle (Ex. xxv. 4 ; xxvi. 1), 
and which the rich man in the parable is represented as wear- 
ing (Luke xvi. 19), was the ancient byssus, which has been 
supposed to have been in most cases a cotton fabric, though 
recent microscopic investigations of mummy wrappings have 
shown that they at least exhibit the cylindrical fibre of flax, 
and not the flat fibre of cotton. This byssus is improperly 
translated "silk" in Prov. xxxi. 22, and in the margin in a 
couple of other passages. Silk does occur, however, at a 
later period (Ezek. xvi. 10, 13; Rev. xviii. 12), as an ele- 
gant and costly material. Goats' hair was spun for the sanc- 
tuary (Ex. xxvi. 7 ; xxxv. 26), as well as made into sackcloth 
(Rev. vi. 12) ; and John the Baptist had his raiment of cam- 
els' hair. Matt. iii. 4. The mingling of different materials, 
as of linen and woolen, in the same piece was prohibited 
(Lev. xix. 19 ; Deut. xxii. 11), like all other heterogeneous 
mixtures, from a religious point of view, as a confusing of 
what God had made distinct. Clothes were commonly made 
by the women, as by Hannah (1 Sam. ii. 19) and Dorcas 
(Acts ix. 39), and even, as in classic lands, by ladies of rank 
and wealth. Prov. xxxi. 22. 

There were two striking points of difference between the 



ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 195 

Oriental dress and that which is in use among ourselves. 
The first is its loose and flowing character as distinguished 
from our tightly-fitting dress, so that the same suit of clothes 
would answer for one person as well as another. The 
second is the permanence and uniformity of Eastern fashions 
as compared with ours, so that the best illustration of the 
apparel in use in the days of Abraham is in some respects 
furnished by that worn by the Arabs at the present time. 
It hence resulted that clothing became an important element 
of wealth, as its value was not impaired by frequent changes 
nor by want of adaptation to any who might w 7 ish to wear 
it. The accumulation of clothing is accordingly spoken of 
along with that of the precious metals as indicating riches. 
Ex. xii. 35 ; Josh. xxii. 8 ; 2 Chron. ix. 24 ; Zech. xiv. 14 ; 
Acts xx. 33. Thus Job (xxvii. 16) combines heaping up 
silver as dust and preparing raiment as the clay. A man 
of property in a time of general impoverishment is described 
as one who has clothing. Isa. iii. 6. The apostle James 
(v. 2) denounces woe upon the rich by saying, " Your riches 
are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten." And 
our Lord exhorts his disciples (Matt. vi. 19), " Lay not up 
for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust 
doth corrupt." Comp. Josh. vii. 21 ; 2 Kings vii. 8. Hence 
we find a "keeper of the wardrobe" among the officials of 
the royal household (2 Chron. xxxiv. 22) ; and the house 
of Baal contained vestments enough for all his worshipers. 
2 Kings x. 22. Guests at a royal festival were supplied 
with garments for the occasion, which accounts for the dis- 
pleasure of the king at seeing one present at the marriage 
of his son who had not on a wedding-garment. Matt. xxii. 
12. On the return of the prodigal the servants were 
directed to bring forth the best robe and put it on him. 
Luke xv. 22. This explains also the frequent mention of 
changes of raiment or presents of clothing as of peculiar 
value. Thus the thirty changes of garments paid by Sam- 



196 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

son to the Philistines (Judg. xiv. 12), the ten changes of 
raiment sent by the king of Syria to the king of Israel 
(2 Kings v. 5), the presents of clothing given by Joseph 
to his brethren (Gen. xiv. 22), by Jonathan to David (1 
Sam. xviii. 4), by Esther to Mordecai. Esth. iv. 4. 

The essential articles of dress, as in ancient Greece and 
in the modern East, were two, viz. : the undergarment, 
which was put on and worn next the body, and the upper 
or outer garment, which was loosely thrown over it. These 
belonged alike to both sexes, though with such a discrimi- 
nation in style or in the quality of the material, and with 
such additional articles belonging exclusively to one sex 
or to the other, that the dress of men was readily dis- 
tinguishable from that of women, as is implied in the pro- 
hibition in the law that neither sex should wear the garments 
of the other (Deut. xxii. 5), a prohibition based not only 
on decorum, but possibly also, as has been conjectured, on 
opposition to certain practices in heathen worship in which 
such interchange was customary. 

The undergarment (commonly called "coat"* in the 
English version) was a narrow tunic or gown, mostly 
woolen, though those of the priests were linen (Lev. xvi. 4), 
and worn alike by young and old (Gen. xxxvii. 3 ; 2 Sam. 
xv. 32), and by persons of either sex. Cant. v. 3. It com- 
monly had short sleeves, reached nearly to the knees, and 
was confined at the waist by a belt or girdle. As worn by 
persons of superior rank, and particularly ladies, it some- 
times had long sleeves and extended to the ankles; such 
was probably the coat with which Joseph was honored 
(Gen. xxxvii. 3), and the garment of King David's daugh- 
ter Tamar (2 Sam. xiii. 18), improperly rendered by our 

* But " garment " in 2 Sam. xiii. 1 8, 19 ; Ezra ii. 69 ; Neh. vii. 70, 
72; Jude ver. 23, "robe" in Isa. xxii. 21, and "clothes" in Mark 
xiv. 63; "coat" in 1 Sam. ii. 19 represents a different word, and in 
Dan. iii. 21, 27, another still. 



AECHMOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 197 

translators " of many " or " divers colors," A person 
who had nothing on but this undergarment unbelted was 
called naked ; so Saul among the prophets, when he had 
thrown off his upper garment (Eng. Ver. clothes) (1 Sam. 
xix. 24), and Isaiah when he had loosened or thrown off his 
dress of sackcloth (Isa. xx. 2), and Peter when his fisher's 
coat was iingirt. John xxi. 7. While that which has now 
been described was the only undergarment considered indis- 
pensable and universally worn, two others are also spoken 
of that were finer and more costly, and belonged chiefly to 
the rich. A shirt was sometimes worn under the tunic 
(Judg. xiv. 12, marg.), which is in Isa. iii. 23 ; Pro v. xxxi. 
24 rendered " fine linen," this being the material of which it 
was made. There was also a " robe " or " mantle/'* as it is 
usually translated in our version, which was without sleeves 
and larger than the tunic over which it was worn. This 
formed part of the official dress of the high priest (Lev. 
viii. 7), and was worn by Samuel in his childhood (1 Sam. 
ii. 9) as the attendant upon Eli, as well as in his later years 
when he was invested with high authority in both civil and 
religious matters. 1 Sam. xv. 27 ; xxviii. 14. So, too, by 
Ezra the priest. Ezra ix. 3, 5. It was also worn by kings 
(Ezek. xxvi. 16), as by Saul (1 Sam. xxiv. 4) and David 
(1 Chron. xv. 27), and by members of the royal family, 
as Jonathan (1 Sam. xviii. 4), and king's daughters 
(2 Sam. xiii. 18), and by nobles or men of distinction, 
as by Job (i. 20; xxix. 14) and his three friends, ii. 
12. Hence the high-priest (Mark xiv. 63) is said to 
have rent his tunics — i. e., both his robe and his tunic 
proper. To this custom of the wealthy of wearing two 
undergarments John the Baptist has been supposed to al- 
lude as to a needless extravagance in saying to the people 
(Luke iii. 11) : " He that hath two coats, let him impart to 
him that hath none," and our Lord in directiug his disci- 

* But "coat" (1 Sain. ii. 19), and "cloak." Isa. lix. 17. 

17* 



198 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

pies when he seat them forth not to put on two coats. 
Mark vi. 9. 

The upper garment (in the English Version commonly 
" garment," " raiment " or " clothes "*) was a sort of shawl, 
or a large square piece of cloth, which was wrapped round 
the person. It was thrown over the left shoulder and 
brought round over or under the right arm, and fastened 
either in front or at the right side, the pendent ends being 
called "skirts." Hag. ii. 12; Zech. viii. 23. A fringe or 
tassels were attached to the four corners by a blue cord 
(Num. xv. 38, 39 ; Deut. xxii. 12) to remind the wearer of 
the law and its heavenly origin. These are the " borders 
of their garments " which were enlarged by the Pharisees 
(Matt, xxiii. 5), and possibly also the hem or border of 
Christ's garment touched by the woman who was healed. 
Matt. ix. 20 ; Luke viii. 44. These upper garments were 
used as a spread upon their couches at night, in consequence 
of which they were not to be taken in pledge for debt. Ex. 
xxii. 26, 27 ; Deut. xxiv. 12, 13 ; Amos ii. 8. To this our 
Lord alludes (Matt. v. 40) : " If any man will sue thee at 
the law, and take away thy coat," or undergarment, which 
he might legally do, " let him have thy cloak also," the up- 
per garment, to which he was not entitled. The inactive found 
in the ample folds of this dress a convenient resting-place 
for the hands. Hence the Psalmist, entreating God's active 
interposition, beseeches him to pluck his right hand out of 
his bosom. Ps. lxxiv. 11. f They might also be used as a 

* Also "robe" (2 Chron. xviii. 9, 29; Mic. ii. 8; Jon. iii. 6; John 
xix. 2, 5), and "cloak." Matt. v. 40; Luke vi. 29. 

f In Prov. xix. 24; xxvi. 15, the word rendered "bosom " proper- 
ly means " dish," as it is correctly translated 2 Kings xxi. 13. The 
man is too lazy to lift his hand to his mouth from the common dish, 
out of which each took his portion with his fingers, according to 
Oriental usage. 



ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 1&9 

pocket.* Thus Haggai speaks (ii. 12) of carrying holy 
flesh in the skirt of the garment, and our Lord of good 
measure being given into one's bosom. Luke vi. 38 - T com- 
pare Ps. lxxix. 12. Or the garment might be taken off and 
spread out to receive whatever might be wrapped in it, and 
then carried like a bag on the shoulders, as the kneading- 
troughs at the exodus (Ex. xiL 34), the earrings taken from 
the Ishmaelites (Judg. viii. 25), the barley given to Kuth 
(iii. 15), where "veil" should be "upper garment," the 
wild gourds gathered for pottage. 2 Kings iv. 39 ; compare 
Prov. xxx. 4. It was the upper garment that Ahijah 
snatched from Jeroboam and rent into twelve pieces (1 
Kings xi. 30), that the adherents of Jehu laid beneath him 
on the stairs (2 Kings ix. 13), that were put upon the ass 
on which Jesus rode and spread in the way before him. 
Matt. xxi. 8. The looseness of the upper garment im- 
peded action ; hence Bartimeus cast it away in his haste to 
go to Jesus (Mark x. 50), the workman going to the field 
left it behind him (Matt xxi v. 18), Jesus laid it aside to 
wash his disciples' feet (John xiii. 4), resuming it when he 
had finished (ver. 12), the witnesses who took part in ston- 
ing Stephen laid it down at the feet of Saul (Acts vii. 58), 
and the mob incensed at Paul cast it off as they threw dust 
into the air. Acts xxii. 23. 

The upper and under garment are sometimes spoken of 
together in the same passage. Thus at the crucifixion of 
Jesus the soldiers divided his upper garment into four parts 
and parcelled it among them, but cast lots for the coat, or un- 
dergarment, which was without seam, woven from the top 
throughout. John xix. 23, 24. Peter was shown the coats 
(or tunics) and (upper) garments w r hich Dorcas had made 

* In Prov. xvii. 23, "A gift out of the bosom," and xxi. 14, "a 
reward in the bosom," may be one taken from or received into the 
pocket of the dress ; or " bosom" may denote the privacy of a man's 
thoughts, and the expression mean a secret bribe. 



200 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

(Acts ix. 39) ; Ezra (ix. 3, 5) rent his (upper) garment and 
his mantle, or the undergarment worn over the tunic as his 
robe of office. 

A peculiar sort of upper garment to which the Hebrews 
gave a special name is in our version rendered four times 
garment (Gen. xxv. 25 ; Josh. vii. 21, 24 ; Zech. xiii. 4), 
five times mantle (1 Kings xix. 13, 19 ; 2 Kings ii. 8, 13, 
14) and twice robe. Jon. iii. 6 ; Mic. ii. 8. It appears to 
have been made of skin, with the hair or fur retained. Gen. 
xxv. 25 ; compare Heb. xi. 37. Such was the garment of the 
prophets (Zech. xiii. 4), the mantle of Elijah (1 Kings xix. 
13), and the robe of ordinary people (Mic. ii. 8), which 
doubtless w T ere plain and unpretending. Sometimes, how- 
ever, they were elegant and costly, as that imported from 
Babylon and coveted by Achan (Josh. vii. 21), and that 
worn by the king of Nineveh. Jon. iii. 6. 

Breeches or drawers were worn by the priests (Ex. 
xxviii. 42), but not generally by others. Some authorities 
explain the word rendered " coats" in the dress of the three 
men cast into the fiery furnace (Dan. iii. 21) as meaning 
trowsers. Others, with greater probability, think it to de- 
note mantles, as it is in the margin. 

The girdle was an important part of the Eastern dress. 
It was used to confine the loose undergarment, which would 
otherwise impede motion. Hence Elijah girded up his 
loins when he ran before Ahab (1 Kings xviii. 46), and Da- 
vid when he danced before the Lord (2 Sam. vi. 14), Ge- 
hazi (2 Kings iv. 29) and the son of the prophets (2 Kings 
ix. 1), when sent upon an errand by Elisha, and our Lord 
when he washed his disciples' feet. John xiii. 4. To have the 
loins girded is a figure consequently for vigor (Ps. xviii. 32) 
and readiness for action. Luke xii. 35. The soldier wore his 
dagger (Judg. iii. 16) or sword (1 Sam. xxv. 13; 2 Sam. xx. 
8 ; Ps. xlv. 13) in his girdle or belt, which was accordingly a 
necessary part of his equipment (Isa. v. 27 ; Eph. vi. 14), and 



ARCHEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 201 

to gird himself was to prepare for battle. 1 Kings xx. 11 ; Isa. 
viii. 9. Money was also carried in the belt (Matt. x. 9 ; Mark 
vi. 8), where the word translated purse is properly girdle. 
The girdle was made of leather (2 Kings i. 8 ; Matt. iii. 4), of 
linen (Jer. xiii. 1), and fine linen or byssus. Ezek. xvi. 10. 
It was sometimes very elaborately wrought or richly deco- 
rated with gold and precious stones (compare Dan. x. 5 ; 
Rev. i. 13), and was highly prized as an article of female 
adornment (Isa. iii. 24 ; xlix. 18 ; Jer. ii. 32, where the 
word rendered " attire " means properly " girdle "), and 
given as a present (1 Sam. xviii. 4 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 11) or 
made an article of trade. Prov. xxxi. 24. It was also 
reckoned among the insignia of office. Isa. xxii. 21. 

It remains to consider what was worn on the feet and on 
the head. Their shoes were simply sandals of wood or 
leather fastened on by straps or thongs (Gen. xiv. 23 ; Isa. 
v. 27), and put off on entering a room or going into a 
sacred place (Ex. iii. 5 ; Josh. v. 15), though worn at the 
passover (Ex. xih 11), which was eaten as if in readiness 
for a journey. Shoes were commonly of a paltry price 
(Amos ii. 6; viii. 6), but those of ladies were often ele- 
gant (Cant. vii. 1) and of costly material. Ezek. xvi. 10. 
In business transactions drawing off the shoe and giving it 
to another was the sign of the transfer of property upon 
which it had trodden. Deut. xxv. 9, 10 ; Ruth iv. 7 ; com- 
pare Josh. i. 3. The sandals of the wealthy were put on, 
taken off and carried by slaves. This is hence spoken of as 
a menial service. Matt. iiL 11 ; Mark i. 7. 

Turbans were worn by both sexes (Job xxix. 14 ; Isa. iii. 
20 ; Ezek. xxiii. 15), especially by the rich and noble, and 
on festive occasions (Ezek, xxiv. 17 ; Isa. Ixi. 3, where 
" beauty," and ver. 10, where "ornaments," properly denote 
a head-dress). But it seems likely that people commonly 
went without any covering on their heads other than per- 
haps a simple band to confine the hair. When the angel 



202 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

summoned Peter to leave the prison (Acts xii. 8), he bade 
him gird himself, bind on his sandals and cast his upper 
garment about him, but said nothing about putting any- 
thing on his head. Mourners went barefoot, and with their 
head covered by their dress. 2 Sam. xv. 30. 

The veil was regarded as indispensable to well-bred 
ladies (Gen. xxiv. 65 ; Cant v. 7), though in patriarchal 
times there seems to have been more freedom in this respect 
than subsequently. Gen. xii. 14; xxiv. 15; xxvi. 8. Of 
female ornaments a list is given (Isa. iii. 18-24), some partic- 
ulars of which are now obscure. The principal of them are 
necklaces, bracelets, rings — not only on the fingers and in 
the ears, but in the nose — mirrors of polished metal worn 
upon the person, and gold or silver chains connecting the 
metallic plates upon the ankles, so as to regulate the step 
and at the same time to produce a tinkling sound. Men 
carried a cane or staff, and a seal-ring either upon the fin- 
ger or on a cord suspended from the neck (Gen. xxxviii. 
18) ; and both Joseph in Egypt (Gen. xii. 42) and Daniel 
in Babylon (Dan. v. 29) w T ere honored by putting a gold chain 
about their necks. 

Two foreign articles of dress are mentioned in the New Tes- 
tament. The scarlet robe put on the Saviour in mockery 
(Matt, xxvii. 28) was the mantle worn by Roman generals 
and officers, and even by emperors at a later time. The 
cloak of Paul (2 Tim. iv. 13) was w r orn by both sexes over 
the tunic. It had no sleeves, merely an opening for the 
head, and a hood which could be drawn over the head in 
cold or wet weather. 



ARCHEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 203 



LESSON III. 
DWELLINGS. 

It has been conjectured that in the earliest ages men con- 
tented themselves with the rudest possible habitations, seek- 
ing shelter in natural caverns, which they afterward im- 
proved by art, or in booths and sheds slightly constructed 
from boughs of trees, until they gradually learned to pro- 
vide themselves with better and more suitable abodes. 
Whatever may be thought of this theory, it derives 
no support from the facts recorded in the Bible, which 
speaks of a city as already built by Cain (Gen. iv. 7), 
implying, of course, houses and permanent dwellings. A 
more rational and better accredited opinion regards the 
different styles of habitation as contemporaneous rather 
than successive, and seeks the ground of their diversity in 
the various grades of civilization in which men are found, 
the nature of their occupation and the materials within 
their reach. 

The Horites, or primitive inhabitants of Mount Seir 
(Gen. xiv. 6 ; Deut. ii. 12), are thought to have derived their 
name from their living in the caves with which that region 
abounds, and which, in later times, were fashioned into the 
elegant rock-hewn structures of the city of Petra. And 
Job (xxx. 6) speaks of miserable vagabonds dwelling in 
caves. The numerous and spacious caverns of Palestine are 
often spoken of as affording concealment and refuge. Thus 
Lot and his daughters took up their abode in a cave after 
the destruction of Sodom. Gen. xix. 30. Five kings of the 
Amorites, fleeing before Joshua, hid themselves in the cave 
at Makkedah. Josh. x. 16. Israel, oppressed by Midian 
(Judg. vi. 2) and by the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii. 6), Sam- 
son, beset by foes (Judg. xv. 8), David, pursued by Saul (1 
Sam. xxii. 1 ; xxiv. 3), prophets persecuted by Ahab (1 



204 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Kings xviii. 4), and godly men in other periods of persecu- 
tion (Heb. xi. 38), sought concealment in caves. They were 
also resorted to by lawless or distressed classes (1 Sam. xxii. 
2) to escape the restraints or burdens of society ; but they 
were not used as places of permanent abode until they were 
occupied for this purpose by the hermits of a later period. 
Tradition indicates certain grottoes as the scene of our 
Lord's nativity (Luke ii. 7), and of various other events of 
the sacred history, but, so far as appears, without any good 
foundation. 

Booths are only spoken of as constructed for cattle (Gen. 
xxxiii. 17), or to afford temporary shelter in case of need, 
as in the case of Jonah before Nineveh (Jon. iv. 5), of gar- 
deners and husbandmen (Job xxvii. 18 ; Isa. i. 8), and of 
the entire people at the feast of tabernacles. Lev. xxiii. 42. 

Nomad tribes dwelt in tents, which could easily be trans- 
ported from place to place. Judg. vi. 5 ; Isa. xiii. 20 ; Hab. 
iii. 7. So did soldiers under arms (2 Kings vii. 7) and 
shepherds whose care of flocks obliged them to lead a rov- 
ing life. Isa. xxxviii. 12. Jabal, the son of Lamech (Gen. 
iv. 20), is said to have been the " father of such as dwell in 
tents and have cattle.' ' The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob lived in tents in Canaan as pilgrims and shep- 
herds (Gen. xviii. 1 ; xxvi. 17 ; xxxiii. 18), though their 
ancestors and relatives in Mesopotamia had houses and set- 
tled abodes. Gen. xxiv. 10, 23. Tents were sometimes 
covered with skins or mats, but mostly with cloths, or, as 
they are called, curtains, woven from wool or from goats' 
hair. Ex. xxvi. 7, 14. Those of goats' hair w T ere black. 
Cant. i. 5 ; iv. 1. These cloths were stretched over one or 
more upright poles and fastened to the ground by cords and 
pins. Ex. xxxv. 18 ; Judg. iv. 21 ; Jer. x. 20. Tents, 
whether round or oblong, were divided by hangings into two, 
or those of the better class into three, apartments, one for 
the women and children, one for the men and one for ser- 



ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 205 

vants or cattle. Wealthy families had separate tents for 
women. Gen. xxiv. 67 ; xxxi. 33. The towns and castles 
of the sons of Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 16) and the villages of 
Kedar (Isa. xlii. 11) were collections of tents or nomadic 
encampments. 

Houses were sometimes built of brick, either burned, as at 
Babel (Gen. xi. 4), or simply dried in the sun, as those made 
by the children of Israel in Egypt, in which straw was min- 
gled with the clay. Ex. v. 7. The use of the latter explains 
the fact that it was possible to dig through a wall (Ezek. 
xii. 5, 7), and that a house neglected and exposed to the 
vicissitudes of the weather would be reduced to a heap of 
dirt. Dan. iii. 29. Stone was, however, regarded as the 
nobler and better material (Isa. ix. 10), the use of which is 
presupposed in the narrative of the tower of Babel (Gen. 
xi. 3), as well as in the law of leprosy. Lev. xiv. 40, 42. 
The temple (1 Kings v. 17) and palace of Solomon (1 
Kings vii. 9) and the residences of the rich (Amos v. 11) 
were of hewn stone, which were often very costly, so that 
the term "precious stones" is used both of those employed 
in building (2 Chron. iii. 6; Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 4) 
and of gems. 1 Kings x. 2 ; 1 Chron. xx. 2. We read of 
marble among the materials of the temple (1 Chron. xxix. 
2) and in the palace of Ahasuerus. Esth. i. 6. The festiv- 
ity connected with laying the corner-stone of public edifices 
is alluded to. Ezra. iii. 10 ; Zech. iv. 7 ; Job xxxviii. 6, 7. 
The cement used at Babel was slime, Gen. xi. 3 — i. e., bitu- 
men or asphaltum. Isaiah (xxx. 12) speaks of lime, and the 
same word is rendered plaster. Deut. xxvii. 4. Mud was also 
used for mortar (Lev. xiv. 42, 45, where the word so trans- 
lated means properly " dust " or " earth "). The acquaint- 
ance of the ancient Hebrews with the structure and use of 
the arch is directly vouched for, if this is intended, as able 
scholars suppose, by the words improperly translated " emi- 
nent place" (Ezek. xvi. 24) and "troop." Amos ix. 6. The 
is 



206 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

wood-work was commonly of sycamore (Isa. ix. 10), though 
in more elegant and costly structures olive, fir (or cypress), 
cedar and almug trees (or sandal-wood) were employed. 1 
Kings vi. 15, 31; x. 12, 27. 

Houses of the better class were built in a quadrangle 
around a central court, which was paved (Esth. i. 6) and 
often very spacious (Neh. viii. 16), with trees and flowers 
and a well or fountain (2 Sam. xvii. 18), and was sur- 
rounded by a covered colonnade or portico (whence the 
figures Ps. lxxv. 3 ; Prov. ix. 1 ; Gal. ii. 9), which was often 
surmounted by a gallery protected by a balustrade. 2 Kings 
i. 2. The court was the favorite resort of the family, as 
well as frequented for social purposes and on festive occasions. 
Esth. i. 5 ; v. 1. The innermost apartments were assigned 
to the women, or separate houses built for them. 1 Kings 
vii. 8 ; Esth. ii. 3. 

The roofs were flat and covered with a compact mass of 
pebbles, plaster and other materials, or sometimes simply 
with earth ; hence the mention of " grass upon the house- 
tops." 2 Kings xix. 26 ; Ps. cxxix. 6. Such roofs, of course, 
were not always impervious to rain. Prov. xxvii. 15. They 
were required by the law to be protected by a low wall or 
parapet. Deut. xxii. 18. The roof was used for a great 
variety of purposes. There Rahab had the stalks of flax 
under which she hid the spies (Josh. ii. 6) ; on it David 
slept and walked in the cool of the evening (2 Sam. xi. 2) ; 
to it Samuel took Saul for private conversation (1 Sam. ix. 
25) ; Peter went thither for prayer (Acts x. 9) ; altars 
were erected there for idolatrous purposes (2 Kings xxiii. 
12) ; incense was burned there, and drink-offerings poured 
out (Jer. xix. 13 ; xxxii. 29 ; Zeph. i. 5) ; three thousand 
men and women were on the roof of the temple of Dagon 
to behold while Samson made sport. Judg. xvi. 27. We 
read of proclaiming on the housetops (Luke xii. 3), of lam- 
entation on the housetops (Isa. xv. 3; Jer. xlviii. 38), of 



ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 207 

going to the roof to fight (Judg. ix. 51), of booths erected 
there during the feast of tabernacles (Neh. viii. 16) ; and a 
general excitement or commotion in a city is represented by 
saying that the whole population had gone up to the house- 
tops. Isa. xxii. 1. The friends of a paralytic in bringing 
him to Jesus uncovered the roof where he was, and after 
breaking it up let the sick man down through the tiling. 
Mark ii. 4 ; Luke v. 19. Some have sought to accommo- 
date these expressions to the removal of an awning stretched 
over the court, but their proper force implies that they dug 
through the earth or plaster of the roof and let him down 
into the room beneath where Jesus was with the crowd. 
They were able to reach the roof by steps leading to it 
from the street without passing through the house, which 
likewise explains our Lord's direction (Mark xiii. 15) : 
" Let him that is on the housetop not go down into the 
house." 

Frequent mention is made of the " upper chamber," a 
large and important room in the second story, sometimes 
itself constituting all there was of a second story, being 
built above the general level of the roof. It was in this 
King Eglon was found when Ehud came to him. Judg. iii. 
20. It was often appropriated to the use of guests, as the 
chamber occupied by Elijah (1 Kings xvii. 19), the chamber 
on the wall assigned to Elisha (2 Kings iv. 10), and the 
guest-chamber where our Lord and his apostles partook of 
the Last Supper. Mark xiv. 15. It was in an upper cham- 
ber that David mourned for Absalom (2 Sam. xviii. 33), 
that Daniel thrice a day offered prayer (Dan. vi. 10), and 
that the early disciples assembled after the ascension of the 
Saviour. Acts i. 13. It was in an upper chamber too that 
the body of Tabitha was prepared for interment. Acts ix. 
37. The house in Troas where Paul preached (Acts, xx." 
9) had a " third loft" or third story. The only other 
buildings mentioned in Scripture of which this is expressly 



208 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

stated are Koah's ark (Gen. vi. 16), the structures adjacent 
to the temple (1 Kings vi. 6, 8) and the house of the forest 
of Lebanon. 1 Kings vii. 4, 5. 

The house was entered by an outer gate, on the side-posts 
and lintels of which passages were often inscribed from the 
law (Deut. vi. 9 ; xi. 20), and which was opened by a por- 
ter or maid (John xviii. 16 ; Acts xii. 13), and led into a 
vestibule (called a porch Matt. xxvi. 71 ; Mark xiv. 68) 
that served as an ante-room from which one could either 
ascend by steps or winding stairs (1 Kings vi. 8) to the roof 
or upper chamber, or pass on through a door into the court, 
whence access was gained to the several rooms of the house. 
The doors were commonly low (Prow xvii. 19), though in 
stately edifices high folding-doors were used. 1 Kings vi. 
34 ; Ezek. xli. 24. Tenons inserted in the top and bottom 
of the door, and moving in sockets in the lintel and sill, 
answered for hinges. 1 Kings vii. 50 ; Prov. xxvi. 14. 
The doors were fastened by bars or wooden bolts, which, 
when pushed into place, were secured by pins dropping into 
holes to which they were severally fitted. These pins could 
be raised and the bolt withdrawn by a key from the outside. 
Judg. iii. 25 ; Cant. v. 5. The windows were unglazed lat- 
tices, extending nearly to the floor, and opening not merely 
upon the court, as is almost exclusively the case in modern 
Oriental houses, but likewise upon the street, so that the 
mother of Sisera could watch for his coming (Judg. v. 28), 
Jezebel be thrown into the street on the demand of Jehu 
(2 Kings ix. 30-33), a bride could see her beloved's ap- 
proach (Cant. ii. 9), one within the house have a full view 
of what was passing without (Prov. vii. 6), and Daniel 
could have his windows opened toward Jerusalem. Dan. vi. 
10. The blank walls which Oriental houses now present on 
their exterior are the result of long oppression, and have been 
resorted to as a defence against espionage and unwelcome 
intrusion. The passages above cited also show that the 



ARCHEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. 209 

women were not restricted, as now, to apartments looking 
out upon the garden at the back of the house. 

Walls were mostly whitewashed. Matt, xxiii. 27. The 
word rendered " untempered mortar " (Ezek. xiii. 10) pro- 
perly means " whitewash," which the prophet declares can- 
not hide the defects of the badly-constructed wall. In 
palaces the interior walls were painted with more showy 
colors and wainscoted. Jer. xxii. 14 ; 1 Kings vii. 7. The 
" ceiled houses " spoken of in Hag. i. 4 are properly houses 
thus wainscoted. For still greater elegance they were some- 
times inlaid with ivory, as the ivory house of Ahab (1 
Kings xxii. 39), those spoken of in Amos iii. 15 and the 
ivory palaces of Ps. xlv. 8. The floors were of plaster or 
mosaic. In cold weather fire was kindled in the court 
(Luke xxii. 55), or in a vessel set in the centre of the 
apartment, for which there was sometimes a cavity 
sunk in the floor. Isa. xlvii. 14. The hearth before which 
King Jehoiakim sat (Jer. xxxvi. 22) was such a pot 
or pan of coals. In Eastern houses at the present day, 
when the fire has burnt down, a frame like a table is placed 
over the pot, and the whole is then covered with a carpet ; 
and those who wish to warm themselves sit upon the floor 
and thrust their feet and legs, and even the lower part of 
their bodies, under the carpet. There were no chimneys, 
but the smoke escaped through the windows. The word 
translated " chimney " (Hos. xiii. 3) means a " lattice." In 
the houses of the rich there were sometimes distinct apart- 
ments for summer and for winter. Judg. iii. 20 ; Amos iii. 
15. The "boiling-places" spoken of (Ezek. xlvi. 23, 24) 
were probably kitchens. 

The furniture of dwellings varied then, as now, of course, 
with the wealth and taste of the owner. In the room pro- 
vided for Elisha (2 Kings iv. 10) there was a bed, table, 
stool or chair, and candlestick or lamp-stand. A raised 
platform at the end or on the sides of the room with cush- 

18* 



210 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ions and pillows (Ezek. xiii. 18),* or a low bedstead (Ps. vi. 
6; Amos iii. 12), which in the houses of the rich was often 
inlaid with ivory (Amos vi. 4) and supplied with costly 
coverings (Pro v. vii. 16), answered the double purpose of a 
seat by day and of a bed at night. Chairs were more 
usual among the ancient Israelites (Prov. ix. 14) and Egypt- 
ians than in the East at present. 

The population dwelt both in walled cities, which were 
often strongly fortified, like those of Bash an, which were 
" fenced with high walls, gates and bars " (Deut. iii. 5), and 
in unwalled towns and villages. Lev. xxv. 29, 31 ; 1 Sam. 
vi. 18 ; Ezek. xxxviii. 11. The streets, as in Eastern towns 
in modern times, were doubtless for the most part narrow 
and crooked, though the principal avenues were broader 
(Kali. ii. 4 ; Cant. iii. 2) ; and one street in Damascus bore 
the name of "Straight." Acts ix. 11. The vast size of 
Babylon and Nineveh, which is called a city of three days' 
journey (Jon. iii. 3), is accounted for by the existence of 
gardens and large open spaces within the city limits. The 
mire of the streets (Isa. x. 6 ; Zech. ix. 3) implies that they 
were commonly unpaved, though, if Josephus is to be cred- 
ited, Solomon paved the roads leading to Jerusalem with 
black stone — a process which would probably be extended 
to the principal streets of the city itself. He further states 
that Jerusalem was paved with white stone by direction of 
Herod Agrippa. Open spaces near the gates were used for 
markets (2 Kings vii. 1), for tribunals of justice (2 Sam.xv. 
2 ; Job v. 4 ; xxix. 7), for the transaction of business (Gen. 
xxiii. 10 ; Kuth iv. 1,11; Prov. xxxi. 23) and for public 
assemblies. 2 Chron. xxxii. 6 ; Neh. viii. 1. 

* Literally, " Woe to the women that sew pillows to all hand-joints," 
the soft appliances by which false prophets lull the people to an easy 
security being represented by an over-refinement of luxury which 
would place pillows not only under the arms and elbows of those who 
recline or lean upon them, but under the very wrists and knuckles. 



A SUMMARY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 



BY 

FRANCIS L. PATTON, D. D., 

Professor in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of 
the Northwest, Chicago. III. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



An opinion is one thing, a fact is another. If a man 
says that he believes the moon is inhabited, we may very 
properly say, " That is your opinion, but we differ with you." 
And since the opinion in question is at present not capable 
of proof, prolonged argument would not be called for. 

Many entertain the idea that what are called " the doc- 
trines" are only conjectures or opinions for which there is 
little or no evidence, and certainly no proof. 

This is a mistake. 

We may assent or not to an opinion as we please ; if we 
reject a fact, we only advertise our stupidity. If a man 
denies that the three angles of a triangle are together equal 
to two right angles, we can demonstrate the proposition. 
If he says that Brutus did not kill Caesar, we can open 
the books of history and convince him. In the one case 
we reach mathematical certainty, in the other moral. If 
in face of evidence a man persists in denying facts, he acts 
unreasonably. Now, " the doctrines " are facts. 

But though truth for truth's sake is the motto of the 
philosopher, it is nevertheless certain that we cannot know 
everything, and there may be considerations which make 
some truths more important than others. The sick man 
wishes above all things to know what medicine will help his 
case. And the most important truth to every man is that 
which makes known the conditions of a happy hereafter. 
"The doctrines" claim a position above all other truth 

213 



214 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

because of their practical value. If any one chooses to call 
this a utilitarian philosophy, he may. Certainly, if there 
were no questions of destiny pending, there might be more 
excuse for those who are jubilant over the discovery of a 
fossil, but indifferent to the facts of Christianity. The doc- 
trines are truths which are capable of proof, and which 
stand in vital relation to the life that now is and to that 
which is to come. These considerations will shape the 
method to be observed in the following pages, 



LESSON I. 
THE FACTORS IN RELIGION: MAN AND GOD. 

Religion is the bond which unites God and man. It 
supposes, therefore, two factors — man, the subject of relig- 
ious feelings, and God, the object of religious worship. To 
cast doubt on either of these factors would be to damage or 
destroy religion. If the universal beliefs of mankind had 
been allowed to pass unchallenged, it would not be necessary 
to offer arguments for the existence of mind or of God. 
Infidels, however, have put Christians on their defence, and 
their bold denials of fundamental truth make it proper, 
and perhaps necessary, that, even in so brief a statement 
of doctrine as this is intended to be, something should be 
said to show how we can vindicate our religious nature. 

I. Man. 

The most pretentious form of current philosophy denies 
our existence, or rather, that element in our existence which 
gives it value : the mind. The student of theology has a 
battle to fight at the threshold, and his first foe is the 
materialist ; for if it should turn out that what we call 
mind is only material force, it would be absurd to talk of 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 215 

religion, since there could be no God to worship and no 
"we" to bow down to him. Suppose, now, that some dis- 
ciple of Maudesley should hear us arguing for the being 
of God from the laws of mind, and should meet us plumply 
with the question, How do you know that such a thing as 
mind exists ? What should we say ? We might feel that 
this is a question which we were not expecting — we should 
certainly feel that, metaphysical though it is, it has a great 
deal to do with religion, and demands an answer. Our 
reflections when written out might take a form something 
like the following : 

1. I exist. This is taken for granted in everything I 
do, say or think. There can be no knowing, feeling, will- 
ing, without an "I" to know, feel and will. What is this 
something which goes by the name "I," "me," "self," 
" ego" ? It is not my body, for I know I am separate from 
it. It is not any part of my body ; my brain is mine, not 
me. There is a necessity laid upon me of thinking that I 
exist ; for if I should think I did not exist, I should have 
to exist in order to think that I did not. This brings us to 
Descartes* famous utterance, " I think, therefore I am." 

Now, I have certain powers or attributes which my body 
does not have, which no part of my body has. I will to 
lift my arm. I know that my arm could not exert an act 
of will, nor is it possible for me to conceive of any material 
substance exercising volition. Will power is a power which 
"I" exert; and when I see a manifestation of it which is 
not due to me, I at once attribute it to another "I" or 
"self" similar to me — that is to say, to another person. I 
know. Knowledge is one of my prerogatives which mate- 
rial substances do not possess. A stone cannot know or 
feel. 

To sura up : There is a something, ens, entity, substance 
—called " I," " me," " self." This something has attributes 
which matter has not, and it has not the properties of mat- 



216 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ter. We are compelled to think that it is a different sub- 
stance, and we call it mind. The more we attempt to real- 
ize the proposition that mind is matter, the more its absurd- 
ity grows upon us, and the more does the distinction 
between the two assert itself as a necessity of thought. In 
philosophical language we say that the distinction is a fact 
of consciousness. 

2. The philosophy which denies mind a place in the 
universe ought to be able to support its terrible conclusions 
by the presentation of evidence. But when asked on what 
authority they deny the universal beliefs of mankind, these 
philosophers have very little to say. To be sure, they are 
able to show that there is an intimate connection between 
mind and body, and they talk learnedly about nerve-cur- 
rents and the grey matter of the brain. But between 
matter and thought, between nerve-currents and personal- 
ity, there is a breach which this philosophy does not fill. 
The belief in mind is a necessity of thought — a necessity 
felt none the less by those who write books to prove that 
mind does not exist. The materialist has encountered two 
barriers which rise mountain-like to dispute his passage 
into the realm of mind : the one is the mystery of life, and 
the other is the mystery of personality. The attempt to 
bring a living thing out of dead matter and to make mind 
a department of physiology has been a failure. 

3. The hypothesis that thought is a function of brain 
is beset with endless confusion, and is palpably absurd. 
According to it, the rationale of conversation is this : A 
movement takes place in A's brain which we call A's voli- 
tion to speak ; other movements follow 7 which we call 
thoughts ; these are attended with the articulation of cer- 
tain sounds ; these fall on the tympanum of B's ear, affect 
the auditory nerve and cause the movements or nerve-cur- 
rents called hearing ; other movements follow in B's brain, 
attended by corresponding articulations, which constitute 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 217 

B's reply. Talking is just telegraph-operating without the 
operators. 

The theory involves the following incongruous elements : 
(a.) Matter thinks, feels, wills, (b.) The irresistible convic- 
tion of this thinking matter is that it is not matter, but 
mind, (c.) Thinking, feeling, willing, as it does, this mat- 
ter is necessarily of the opinion that matter cannot think, 
feel or will. 

And further, we might say to him who seeks to convince 
us that mind does not exist : It is folly for you to undertake 
any such task ; for if your theory is true, I am not properly 
the subject of argument. You might as well expect a dead 
man to find comfort in his funeral sermon. Convincing me, 
were you to succeed, would only mean setting in motion cer- 
tain nerve-currents in a material organism. And besides, you, 
in the act of arguing, are only a material organism, with a 
set of material forces at work which you call your philosoph- 
ical opinions. One Ley den jar might as well be supposed 
to discuss chemistry with another Ley den jar as for you and 
me to talk metaphysics. 

And yet again : If I am convinced that you are right, I 
am convinced that consciousness has played me false. But 
if in regard to this fundamental conviction I am deceived, 
how T can I be sure of my eyes and my ears when they tell 
me that you are present and that you speak ? To be con- 
vinced that consciousness is a false witness seems to be im- 
possible, when I remember that my belief in the existence 
of my philosophical acquaintance is founded on a belief in 
the veracity of consciousness. I must trust my consciousness 
in order that I may be convinced that it is mendacious, 
w 7 hich involves an absurdity akin to that of a man trying 
to take himself up in his arms. 

19 



218 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

II. God. 

The belief in God is universal. All men believe in the 
existence of some being or beiDgs above them to whom they 
are responsible and whom it behooves them to propitiate. 
This belief is not the result of argument, for the majority 
of men have never faced the question why they believe in 
God. The fact that this belief is so widespread is a strong 
argument in favor of its truth. It would be strange if the 
human race were unanimous in entertaining a falsehood 
like this ; and though the atheist will say that this is not 
more strange than the fact that men for ages believed 
that sun, moon and stars revolved round the earth, yet a 
moment's thought will show that the cases are not parallel. 
The sun seemed to them to rise and set, and the stars to 
move from east to west. It w y as perfectly natural that they 
should trust their eyes. Or if it should be said that men 
have held with considerable unanimity the belief in many 
superstitions regarding the supernatural, we should reply 
again that, given the fact of a widespread conception re- 
specting the supernatural, it is not difficult to understand 
the multiplied misconceptions. But it is not easy to 
explain how it happened that a universal belief in the 
supernatural should have taken possession of the minds 
of men if there is no supernatural. If God exists, we can 
account for the crudities which are associated with the be- 
lief in his existence. But on the hypothesis of material- 
ism, the genesis of the idea of God is without explanation. 
Atheism leaves us with a universal effect without any assign- 
able cause. Our belief in God we will allow is open, however, 
to honest criticism. If evidence could be brought to show 
that it is without foundation or is false, w r e should listen to 
it and give it all the consideration it deserves. On the other 
hand, it is fair to require of him w T ho undertakes to over- 
throw the world's faith that he present some objection 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 219 

which goes beyond an assertion of his own skepticism. The 
atheist as yet has not met this requirement. If he reminds 
us that advancing science is banishing polytheism, we shall 
remind him, on the other hand, that it is at the same time 
establishing theism. If he tells us that the phenomena in 
the material world occur in accordance with universal law 
and are due to the operation of one force, we shall tell him 
that he must believe in one omnipotent and omnipresent Be- 
ing before these generalizations can have any significance, 
that they do not conflict necessarily with our belief in God, 
and that they do not add much to what we learned from the 
Book which says : " In him we live and move and have 
our being" (Acts xvii. 28), and which tells us that "In him 
and through him and to him are all things." Rom. xi. 36. 

Belief in God is universal; this is a presumption in 
favor of the doctrine of God's existence, and lays the bur- 
den of proof on him who undertakes to set it aside. The 
atheist may be defied to show that any fact of science is 
inconsonant with theism. We, however, are able to pro- 
duce arguments which abundantly serve to vindicate our 
faith and to condemn the atheist. 

We shall notice four : (1.) That which is based on the 
idea of cause. (2.) That which arises out of our moral 
nature. (3.) Scripture. (4.) Congruity. 

1. Cause. We are so constituted that whenever any 
event occurs we are necessarily led to ask a reason for it, or 
to believe that it was due to some cause. This fact in our 
mental constitution is the basis of the two methods of rea- 
soning which are commonly known as the cosmological and 
the teleological arguments. 

(a.) The cosmological argument. Every change is due 
to some cause. Let us see where this statement will lead 
us. We exist. We owe our existence to our parents. Our 
parents owe theirs to their parents, and so on. Unless we 
adopt Darwinism, we must conclude that the human race is 



220 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

eternal, or that the chain of which parent and child are the 
links terminates in our first parents. But we cannot believe 
that the human race is eternal, for this would be like sup- 
posing that one link of a chain is supported by the one 
above it, and that by the one above it, and so back to infin- 
ity. By a necessity of thought we must think of a first 
link which is fixed and which supports all the rest. So the 
chain of causes must bring us to the first man, the father of 
the human race, and he must be self-existent, or he must seek 
for a cause of his existence. How did he come into being ? 

Take other species of animal life. There is no evidence 
that any species has developed by gradual transition out 
of a lower species ; so that, tracing the individuals of any 
species backward, we come, as in the case of man, to the 
first individuals of the species. And the question occurs 
again, What is the cause of their existence? 

We are of necessity led to believe in the existence of a 
necessary self-existing First Cause ; and unless we adopt 
the theory of evolution, we soon come to a point where it 
becomes necessary to look for that cause outside of matter. 
But were the hypothesis of evolution accepted, it would re- 
lieve us of no difficulty ; for grant that the effects or changes 
in the material world can be traced back in a chain of finite 
causations till we come to an original ether, this ether is 
in motion or else it is at rest. If it is in motion, the motion 
is a change which demands a cause ; and as an infinite series 
of finite causes is inconceivable, we must believe that mat- 
ter is the originator of motion or is self-moved. But this 
is inconceivable. Plato argued, and we see no reason to 
doubt the correctness of his reasoning, that, since it is im- 
possible for the mind to conceive of matter originating mo- 
tion, there must be a mind as the first cause of motion. 

(6.) The teleological argument. This likewise is as old as 
Plato, though made more familiar to us by the writings of 
Paley and others. If, says Paley, we were walking on the 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 221 

sea-shore, and should find a watch on the sand, we should 
discover on examination that it was intended to be a measurer 
of time, that the parts of the watch are contrived for bring- 
ing about this result ; we should never dream that the parts 
were fitted to each other and with such delicate adjustment, 
as a matter of chance. We could not resist the feeling that 
the watch was the product of wonderful skill, and the work 
of a designing mind. Applying this reasoning to what we 
observe in nature, we conclude that the universe is not only 
an effect which has a cause, but an effect which has an 
intelligent cause. Paley's watch is none the worse for wear ; 
and however much some are disposed to disparage this line 
of argument, it is nevertheless true that it is impossible for 
the mind to face the evidences of design in nature without 
feeling that they testify to an intelligent Creator. A man 
may say that it is possible that these so-called adaptations 
are nothing more than a fortuitous concourse of atoms. 
When he says this, however, he is not seeking truth, but 
seeking an excuse for not assenting to the force of evidence. 
As long as he is in this state of mind it will be of no use 
to multiply the evidences of design. The man who can. 
see no evidence of design in the structure of his own body 
is not likely to be convinced by illustrations drawn from 
the latest discoveries in science.* 

2. The moral argument. There are two pairs of correla- 
tive expressions which we all use, and which, if we stop to 
think, almost necessarily suggest the idea of God. These 
expressions are — right and wrong ; ought and ought not. 

Some actions we pronounce right, others we say are 
wrong. Benevolence is right, envy is wrong. The same 

* For illustrations of design in nature, we refer to the admirable 
summary of the teleological argument in the first volume of Dr. 
Hodge's Systematic Theology, to the numerous works on natural the- 
logy and to the volumes of lectures published by the Christian Evi- 
dence Society of London. 
19* 



222 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

thing may be called right and wrong, it is true, by different 
persons, but all feel that the distinction is fundamental and 
necessary. It is not because a word or action pleases us that 
we call it right. Its moral quality we know is something 
altogether different from the feeling of pleasure or displeas- 
ure which it occasions. We are conscious, when we say of 
a word or act that it is wrong, of appealing to an absolute 
standard, and our judgment is simply an expression of its 
want of conformity with it. A standard there must be, or 
the words right and wrong would have no meaning. What 
is that standard? Some tell us that there is an eternal 
principle of right, but what meaning can we attach to a 
principle of right as the standard of moral action? Let us, 
however, believe in the existence of a perfect moral being, 
whose nature constitutes the ground of right, and then we 
use language intelligibly when we speak of right and wrong. 

Again, morality is obligatory. We are conscious of this. 
There are some things which we ought to do and some which 
we ought not to do. There is a vast difference between say- 
ing to a man, " It will be better for you to be honest, for hon- 
esty is the best policy," and saying, "You are bound to be 
honest." The difference is so great that, though the attempt 
has more than once been made to show how the idea of 
obligation can be developed out of the idea of expediency, 
it has never succeeded. If there is no God, why do I feel 
under obligation? Who has a right to command me? If 
atheism is true, obligatory morals are impossible. Our 
moral nature speaks, however, in the imperative mood. We 
must believe in God, or believe that the root of our nature 
is a lie. 

3. Scripture. A great deal of our knowledge rests on the 
testimony of others. Testimony, however, would be worth- 
less if we believed that men would lie as readily as they would 
speak the truth. Now, supposing that we were not led by 
the constitution of our nature to believe in God, there is no 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 223 

reason why the Bible should not be competent to give inde- 
pendent proof of His being. If the testimony of travelers 
is enough to satisfy us as to the appearance and habits of 
men in the heart of Africa whom we have never seen, the 
Bible, if it is authentic history, is enough to satisfy us of the 
existence of a Being who made all things, who works mira- 
cles and knows the end from the beginning. Some facts, 
we concede, require more evidence than others, for their sup- 
port. The Bible history, however, is supported by evidence 
enough to satisfy every just demand. If any history is veri- 
table, the history of the Jews is ; but take God out of the 
Jewish history, and what would remain ? Prophecy is not 
explainable on atheistic principles, but the Bible contains 
the record of prophecy and the record of its fulfillment. 
The resurrection of Christ is certified not only by the testi- 
mony of those who saw Him alive after his passion, but by 
the fact that the gospel was first preached in Jerusalem, 
where neither the desire nor the material was wanting for 
the destruction of Christianity, if it were true that the apos- 
tles appealed to a falsehood when they referred to the resur- 
rection. If w r e cannot believe in God's existence on the 
testimony of the Bible, w T e might as well burn our books 
of history. A man cannot deny its testimony unless he 
says plainly, " No amount of testimony will convince me of 
the supernatural. " Of course such skepticism is incurable. 
4. Congruity. We know that we have the wrong key 
when it does not fit all the wards of the lock. On the 
other hand, it is a strong argument for the truth of a theory 
that it explains all the facts in the case. The belief in a 
self-existent personal God is in harmony with all the facts 
of our mental and moral nature as well as with all the phe- 
nomena of the material world. If God exists, a universal 
belief in his existence is natural enough ; the irresistible im- 
pulse to ask for a first cause is accounted for; our relig- 
ious nature has an object ; the uniformity of natural law 



224 PREP APING TO TEACH. 

finds an adequate explanation, and human history is vin- 
dicated from the charge of being an immense imposture. 
Atheism leaves all these matters without any explanation, 
and makes not history alone, but our intellectual nature 
itself, an imposture and a lie. 

The line of argument which we have pursued has brought 
us first to a reasoned belief in Animism, and secondly to 
a reasoned belief in Theism. The atheist, however, may 
say, " This mode of reasoning is not demonstration. It 
may be there is no God, and that my consciousness bears 
false witness.'' Of course, if a man goes so far as to charge 
his very nature with falsehood, we have nothing more to 
say. Discussion would be useless. It is worth while to 
note the fact that the strongest argument of the atheist 
is that the theist has not demonstrated the being of God ; 
and in reply it is enough to say : (1.) We did not set out 
with a promise to demonstrate the being of God, but to 
vindicate a universal faith. This we claim to have done 
by arguments which ought to convince you and which are 
enough to condemn you. (2.) Your complaint is a con- 
fession ; for when you seek to justify your disbelief on the 
ground that £>ossibIy there is no God, you virtually confess 
that the question of God is at least immensely probable. 
We have no wish to discuss the question whether the 
existence of God is a demonstrable proposition. We ask 
you simply to consider the peril in which you stand when 
you assume the responsibility of denying the existence of a 
Being whom you must one day face. (3.) Probability is the 
guide of life. You admit this in other matters ; why do you 
deny it in this ? If you go to sea on a raft because there is a 
bare possibility that you will cross the ocean safely, you act 
like an idiot. If you persist in atheism in face of all the 
evidence of God's existence, you are what the Bible calls a 
"fool." 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 225 

LESSON II. 
THE KULE OF FAITH. 

Our moral nature prompts us to ask many questions, and 
makes us impatient until they are answered. What is the 
origin of the human race? How does it happen that sin 
is universal ? What is the character of the Being to whom 
we are responsible ? May we trust him, or must we be in 
terror ? How are we to know w r hat is right and what is 
w 7 rong, since the judgments of men conflict? Are w r e im- 
mortal ? Is it a happy hereafter which awaits us ? Does 
that depend on anything w 7 hich w r e can do? If so, what 
must we do ? 

Whither shall we go for a satisfactory answer to these 
inquiries? We cannot rest until w 7 e find some standard of 
truth w 7 hich we can regard as infallible. Where are w r e to 
find it? In your reason, says one. In the Church, says 
another. In the Bible, says a third. The decisions we 
reach respecting our rule of faith will determine w 7 hether 
we shall be Rationalists, Romanists or Protestants. Let us 
consider these answers in the order mentioned. 

I. Reason. 

There are two ways of investing reason with infallibility. 
A man may say that he needs no other revelation than the 
light of his ow T n intellect, in which case he makes reason 
the source of knowledge; or he may say that, conceding that 
the Bible contains divine revelations, he will receive nothing 
which he cannot comprehend or which conflicts wdth his 
sense of right, iu which case he makes reason the criterion 
of truth. 

To one who denies the necessity or the possibility of a 
revelation we should reply by saying : 

1. If you deny that God can or will give a revelation, 



226 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

you simply make yourself a pope and proclaim your infal- 
libility. Argument with you is, therefore, out of the ques- 
tion. 

2. The need of a revelation is seen in the conflicting 
opinions which men entertain respecting fundamental ques- 
tions. If twelve clocks at the same instant indicate a dif- 
ferent hour, it is certain that at least eleven of them are 
wrong. The conflicting verdicts of the human conscience 
on matters of right and wrong prove that without a reve- 
lation the race is hopelessly in the dark. 

3. The need of a revelation and its possibility are ques- 
tions which are set aside by the undoubted fact that God 
has given a revelation, and that we have it in the Old and 
New Testaments. When the steam-engine was invented, 
it was argued that it never could be made a means of land- 
travel. The railroad is a refutation of the reasoning. 

When, however, the rationalist takes the position that 
reason is the criterion by which we are to decide what is and 
what is not properly a part of divine revelation, it is neces- 
sary to remind him that there is a proper and an improper 
exercise of reason in matters of religion. If a man were 
to say that up in the moon two and two make five, we should 
deny it point blank. If he said that in the moon there is 
a race of men who can fly, we should say, Possibly ; the 
thing is certainly not inconceivable. This illustrates the 
first prerogative of reason, the right to pronounce against 
a statement which contradicts a necessary belief. We can- 
not believe a contradictory proposition ; we cannot believe 
that an event occurred without some cause of its occurrence. 
We cannot believe that right is wrong or that wrong is 
right. Any book that asks us to believe these things asks 
an impossibility, asks us to assent to unthinkable proposi- 
tions, and therefore cannot be from God. Again, the Bible 
comes to us as a revelation. So do other books — the Koran, 
for example. Why do we accept the Bible and reject the 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 227 

rest? Because the Bible gives evidence of being a divine 
revelation. The mind, therefore, must be allowed to weigh 
the evidence which accredits the Bible and determine 
whether it is adequate. To deny this would be to deny 
that there is any reason for believing one alleged revelation 
rather than another. The rationalist, however, wishes the 
privilege of sitting in judgment on the contents of Scrip- 
ture. His position is open to obvious objections. 

1. It does not follow that a doctrine is untrue because it 
is incomprehensible. The Bible teaches the doctrine of the 
Trinity. The rationalist denies it. It is a contradiction, 
he says. But it is not a contradiction, for the human mind 
cannot believe a contradiction, and the doctrine of the 
trinity is a cardinal one in the Christian's creed. Incom- 
prehensible it undoubtedly is, but this is no argument against 
it, unless, indeed, the man who makes it is omniscient. 

2. A man has no right to settle beforehand what God may 
or may not do, and then condemn the Scriptures because 
they do not harmonize with his view. God cannot do wrong, 
we know. But what may be wrong for us to do may not 
be wrong for God to do. It may be wrong for a man to 
chastise another man's child, though quite proper for him 
to punish his own. We have no right to kill a man ; it 
does not follow, though, that God has none. The rationalist 
raises moral objections to the Bible because he makes the 
mistake of applying to God the laws which were meant to 
govern the relations of men. 

3. We must not form our judgment of God by the light 
of the Bible, and at the same time criticise the Bible by our 
idea of God. If an Eastern prince should send us a pack- 
age containing a letter and his photograph, it might be well 
enough to take the necessary means of satisfying ourselves 
that the package came from the person in question. But 
that fact being ascertained, we must take the photograph as 
a genuine picture, even though it should be very unlike 



228 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

what we would have expected. Now, the Bible is a por- 
trait, if we may so speak, of God. We learn from it that 
God is just, and that he will take vengeance on those who 
obey not the gospel of his Son. It is our business to de- 
termine whether the Bible gives evidence of being sent to 
us from God ; but having satisfied ourselves of that fact, it 
would be a very foolish thing to reject any part of it be- 
cause it does not correspond with the notions we had formed 
of God. 

II. The Church. 

Roman Catholics regard the Church as infallible and 
her teachings as authoritative. They believe that the 
Scriptures are infallible and inspired, but deny that they 
are sufficient. They say that the Church is the custodian of 
a body of unwritten truth communicated by Christ and his 
apostles and preserved in the form of tradition. But how 
are we to distinguish between true and false traditions? 
Romanists apply the tests of catholicity and antiquity: 
what has always been believed, and by all Christians, is 
true. The peculiar doctrines of Romanism will not meet 
the requirements of this canon, however, and the only way 
in which they can be justified is to fall back upon the in- 
fallibility of the Church. Romanists claim that the tradi- 
tions are true because endorsed by an infallible Church. 
Romanism therefore stands or falls with the doctrine of the 
Church's infallibility. Some say that infallibility resides 
in the pope as vicar of Christ, and others in the Church, 
speaking through the majority of her bishops. A word or 
two, first, on the general question of infallibility: 

1. Proof of infallibility is, in the nature of the case, 
impossible, for the appeal must be made either to Scrip- 
ture or to tradition. The Scripture cannot be cited to 
prove the infallibility of the Church, for a favorite point 
which the Romanists make against Protestants is that 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 229 

we have no infallible interpretation of the Scriptures. If 
the Romanist is correct in this argument, it applies with 
equal force to himself. He cannot appeal to the Scriptures 
to sustain the infallibility of the Church ; and if he does, he 
must assume that his Church is infallible in order that he 
may have an infallible interpretation of those passages of 
Scriptures on which the infallibility of the Church is based. 
On the other hand, he cannot appeal to tradition, for his be- 
lief that a particular tradition is true depends upon the in- 
fallibility of the Church which holds the tradition. Ro- 
man Catholic reasoning is proverbially circular. The ap- 
peal is to tradition to support infallibility, and to infallibil- 
ity to certify tradition. 

2. The Church of Rome is not infallible, because it con- 
tradicts the Scriptures ; and the Scriptures, it concedes, are 
infallible. The Bible teaches that only God can forgive 
sins ; Rome says the priest can. The Bible says, Worship 
God only ; Rome says, Worship the Virgin Mary too. The 
Bible says there is one Mediator ; Rome says every priest 
is a mediator. The Bible says that Christ offered himself 
once for all ; Rome pretends to repeat the sacrifice in cele- 
brating the eucharist. The Bible says we are justified by 
faith ; Rome says we are justified by baptism. If the 
Church of Rome is infallible and the Bible is infallible, we 
have two infallibilities contradicting each other. 

But there are special difficulties connected with the infalli- 
bility of the pope and the infallibility of the bishops or of 
general councils. The doctrine of the pope's infallibility is 
attended with difficulties like the following : 

(1.) It is not certain whether the infallibility of the pope 
follows from the infallibility of the Church, or the infalli- 
bility of the Church from the infallibility of the pope. 
Archbishop Manning holds the latter opinion. " The tradi- 
tion of the Church is not to test the teaching of the pontiff 

20 



230 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

by the assent of the Church, but to take the doctrines of the 
pontiff as the test of the doctrines of the Church." A writer 
in the Catholic World takes the other view, and says : " The 
infallibility of the pope is implicitly contained in and logic- 
ally concluded from the infallibility of the Church in gen- 
eral.' ' * And Archbishop Manning himself turns round and 
appeals to the infallibility of the Church to certify the le- 
gitimacy, and therefore the infallibility, of the pope. He 
saysf "that St. Peter was bishop of Rome, . . . that the 
Council of Trent and the Council of the Vatican are 
oecumenical — that is, legitimately celebrated and confirmed; 
that Pius IX. is the successor of St. Peter by legitimate 
election. These truths are not revealed, . . . yet they are 
so necessary to the order of faith that the whole would be 
undermined if they were not infallibly certain. But such 
infallible certainty is impossible by means of human history 
and human evidence alone. It is created only by the au- 
thority of the Church." 

(2.) Some important gaps in history must be filled before 
it can be shown that the pope is infallible. 

(a.) It does not appear in the New Testament that Peter 
had any primacy among the apostles. Romanists base the 
doctrine on Matt. xvi. 18 : " Thou art Peter, and on this rock 
I will build my Church." J We know, however, that Peter 
did not lay any claim to precedence, nor was any accorded 
to him by the other apostles. He writes, "The elders who 
are among you I exhort, who am also an elder." He did 
not preside at the Council of Jerusalem. Paul, on one oc- 
casion, withstood him to the face, because he was to be 
blamed. 

(6.) It cannot be shown that Peter was ever in Rome. 

* Catholic World for August, 1871. 
f Petri Privilegium. 

{For an exposition of this verse see Lange's Commentary and 
Notes. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 231 

(c.) And if it could, it would not follow that he had any 
successors. 

(d.) And if he had successors, it would be impossible to 
prove that Pope Pius IX. is the legitimate occupant of the 
papal chair. 

(e.) The advocates of papal infallibility are confronted 
w T ith the damaging fact that the sixth general counciJ, 
A. D. 680, anathematized Pope Honorius as a heretic. 

The Gallican party in the Church of Rome deny that the 
pope is infallible, but believe in the infallibility of the 
Church — that is to say, they believe that the decisions of a 
majority of the bishops are infallible. This position, how- 
ever, is as untenable as that of the Ul tramontanes just no- 
ticed. 

(1.) It is assumed that the " Church," to whom promises 
are given and on whom privileges are conferred, is a 
visible organization, and is composed of those who are in 
subjection to the bishop of Rome. Christ promised that 
the gates of hell should not prevail against his Church. 
The Church is said to be his body, the fullness of Him who 
filleth all in all. Christ loved the Church, and gave him- 
self for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it w 7 ith the 
washing of water by his blood, that he might present it to 
himself a glorious Church, not having a spot or wrinkle, or 
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without 
blemish. It cannot be shown that these statements refer to 
any visible organization, and far less that that organization 
is the Church of Rome. We know, moreover, that these 
statements do not refer to any visible Church ; they are true 
of no one organization as such. They are true, however, of 
all believers as such, and no organization has a monopoly 
of them. 

(2.) The promises of Christ do not imply infallibility. It 
is not denied that the New Testament sometimes uses the 
word church to convey the idea of visible organization, 



232 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

though in the passages which are most relied on by Roman- 
ists we know it has not that signification. Our Lord 
evidently has referred to the local organization in Matt, 
xviii. 15, when he speaks of church discipline and says : 
" Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in 
heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be 
loosed in heaven." But his promises, whether referring to 
visible societies of Christians or to Christians as members 
of his invisible Church, never imply that those to whom 
they were made were to be preserved from error. 

(3.) No argument for the infallibility of the Church — i. e., 
the bishops — can be based on apostolic succession. 

It is claimed that the bishops are successors of the apos- 
tles, and have the gifts of the apostles. But the New Tes- 
tament gives every evidence that the apostolic office was 
special, and did not survive when the original twelve passed 
away. There is no evidence that they had any successors, 
and those w T ho claim apostolic honors do not have the 
" signs " w T hich accredited those whom Christ ordained. 
They cannot work miracles, nor are they inspired, nor have 
they seen the Lord. But the exclusive claims of the 
Roman Catholic and the Anglo-Catholic communions rest 
upon the absurd figment of apostolic succession. 

If, however, the Church is infallible because the bishops 
are successors of the apostles, the infallibility of the bish- 
ops should be analogous to that of the apostles. The 
latter were infallible as teachers because they were in- 
spired. Their infallibility was individual and not collect- 
ive. Romanists do not claim that each bishop is infallible, 
but that a majority of fallible opinions in a general council 
amounts to an infallible decision. 

(4.) The Church of Rome is in a dilemma. 

For if the council was infallible w T hich anathematized 
Pope Honorius, the pope cannot be above a general council, 
nor can he be infallible. On the other hand, if the pope is 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 233 

infallible, the council did wrong in anathematizing Hono- 
rius, and must be fallible. And yet, again, if a general 
council may be fallible, of what value is the decision of 
the Vatican council which declared the pope to be infal- 
lible? 

In the light of history, therefore, the claim of infallibility 
for either pope or council is ridiculous. 

III. The Bible. 

Protestants deny the authority of tradition, and take the 
Bible as the only rule of faith and practice. Is it an in- 
fallible rule? Let us mark the steps which lead to an 
affirmative answer to this question. 

1. The historic credibility of the Bible is a settled ques- 
tion. The books of Moses were written by Moses. The 
Gospels are genuine biographies, and w T ere written by the 
men whose names they bear. What is true of the Penta- 
teuch and of the Gospels is true of all the other books of 
the Bible. The Scriptures have been subjected to the se- 
verest criticism, and their authenticity has been placed be- 
yond question. The trustworthiness of the Scriptures as 
literary documents we therefore take as granted. 

2. The Bible gives us a great deal of information respect- 
ing God and his relations to men, which we find nowhere 
else. The most cursory study of it will convince us of this. 
We find in it accounts of miracles which God did, and 
which show the close relation subsisting between God and 
his covenant people. Then, the Bible contains accounts of 
communications from God to men, and some of them are 
very extended. A large part of the Old Testament con- 
sists of prophetic utterances prefaced with the expression : 
" Thus saith the Lord." And, finally, the Bible contains 
doctrines which carry on their face the evidences of divine 
authorship, because they meet so exactly the wants of the 
human heart and are in such strong contrast with all hu- 

20* 



234 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

man efforts to supply them. The doctrine of expiation by 
an incarnate God may be taken as an example. 

A large part of the Bible being a written account of what 
God did and said, we may properly say that it contains the 
word of God. 

3. The whole Bible is God's message. This is another 
step in advance. The Bible was not written simply be- 
cause it occurred to several writers to put on record the facts 
in their possession or to reduce to writing their religious 
sentiments. God designed it to be an authorized message 
from him to men. Several considerations point to this con- 
clusion. The official standing of some of the writers — Mo- 
ses, for instance — would bespeak official value for what they 
wrote. And then, the Bible being the only means of 
making known the way of salvation, we may presume that 
it was designed to be an official communication. For, if it 
was not, there was no official communication, and we are 
left to believe that, although the scheme of redemption was 
of sufficient importance to engage the thought of God, it is 
due to accident that an account of it has been preserved. 
Besides, the Bible is an organism. The several books stand 
in designed relation to one body of truth, and the whole body 
is animated by the same spirit. 

Parts of the Bible we know were written by express com- 
mand of God — the Pentateuch, the prophecies of Jeremiah, 
the Apocalypse, for example. The books of Moses are fre- 
quently quoted as the law of the Lord. Christ referred 
to the Old Testament as authoritative. Peter says that the 
things which were written aforetime were written for our 
learning. The repeated occurrence of expressions like " It 
is written," " What saith the Scripture," "The Scripture 
saith," shows that writers of the New Testament regarded the 
Old Testament as a divine message. 

4. The Bible is infallible. We should expect that God 
would protect his message against the errors which are in- 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 235 

cident to mere human authorship. AVe should naturally 
suppose that no unauthorized books would be allowed a place 
in the sacred canon. The references to the Old Testament 
which we find in the New confirm this judgment. All the 
parts of the Old Testament are put on the same level. No 
difference of rank or value is recognized. They are all em- 
braced in the same titles, and the titles indicate their sacred 
character : The Scriptures, The Holy Scriptures, The Hal- 
lowed Writings, The Oracles of God. 

The greatest deference is paid the Old Testament by the 
writers of the Xew. Incidental circumstances in the life of 
our Lord are spoken of as fulfillments of prophecy. This 
cannot be accounted for on any other supposition than that 
the evangelists believed in the verbal infallibility of the 
Old Testament. Our Lord himself asserts the infallibility 
of the Old Testament : " The Scriptures must be fulfilled. " 
" The Scriptures cannot be broken." "All things must be 
fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the 
Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me." Moreover, the 
verbal references to the Old Testament which we find in the 
writings of Paul prove that he and the Jewish people gen- 
erally believed in the verbal infallibility of the Old Testa- 
ment. Unless the infallibility of Scripture extended to its 
words, the apostle would not have been justified in making a 
single word the premise of a syllogism. He did so, how- 
ever, in more instances than one, and we must conclude that 
Paul reasoned falsely or that the Old Testament is verbally 
infallible. 

5. The Old Testament is declared to be of divine author- 
ship. 

Passages are cited from Scripture as the words of the 
Holy Ghost. Heb. iii. 7 : " Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost 
saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your 
hearts." Acts iv. 24 : "And when they heard that, they 
lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, 



236 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and 
the sea, and all that in them is ; who, by the mouth of thy ser- 
vant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the peo- 
ple imagine a vain thing?" Acts i. 16 : "And in those days 
Peter stood up . . . and said, . . . Men and brethren, this 
scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy 
Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas." 
2 Peter i. 20 : " Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the 
scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy 
came not in old time of the will of man, but holy men of 
old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Tim. 
iii. 15, 16 : "And that from a child thou hast known the 
holy scriptures, w r hich are able to make thee wise unto salva- 
tion through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture 
is given by inspiration of God." 

" The New Testament canonizes the Old, the incarnate 
Word sets his seal on the written word. The incar- 
nate Word is God, therefore the inspiration of the Old 
Testament is authenticated by God himself."* It will not 
require much evidence to convince one of the inspiration of 
the New Testament who believes in that of the Old. It 
may be inferred from £he fact that it evidently forms part 
of God's revelation and is necessary to the full exhibi- 
tion of the gospel scheme. Our Lord, however, promised 
the inspiration of the Spirit to guide the apostles : " The 
Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye 
ought to say." Luke xii. 12, "For it is not ye that speak, 
but the Holy Ghost." Mark xiii. 11. And Paul says (1 
Cor. ii. 13), " Which things also we speak not in words 
which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost 
teach eth." If the apostles were preserved against error in 
their oral utterances, how much more may we suppose them 
to have been inspired in writing what was to shape the 
Church's faith in all time ! We know, however, that Peter 
* Wordsworth on the Canon, p. 51, Am. Ed. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 237 

placed the writings of Paul on a level with the inspired 
writings of the Old Testament : " Even as our beloved 
brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, 
hath written unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in 
them of these things ; in which are some things hard to be 
understood, which they that are unlearned and unsta- 
ble wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own 
destruction." 2 Peter iii. 15-17. 

The Bible, therefore, not only contains the word of God, 
but it is the word of God. 

It is infallible because it is inspired. The Holy Ghost in- 
fluenced the sacred writers to such an extent that what they 
said, God said. His influence, however, did not destroy 
their individuality or abridge their liberty. It made them 
infallible as teachers, but not perfect as Christians. Inspi- 
ration is one thing, sanctification another. 

The Bible is a Human book ; it is also a divine book. It 
had human authors ; it has a divine Author. Moses wrote 
history ; David wrote psalms ; Paul wrote letters. Sup- 
pose there were no inspiration guiding these writers. Moses 
might still have remembered his interviews with God, and 
have written them out with tolerable accuracy. He might 
still have been a trustworthy historian of the Exodus, 
though we could not feel sure that he had incorporated no 
errors in his books. David, being a religious man, might 
have written pious psalms, as religious men have since done, 
but he might have put wrong sentiments in them too ; for 
good as he was, he was far from perfect. Paul might have 
written his doctrinal Epistles, and there would have been 
good reason for believing that Paul knew what was true and 
what was false. But Paul may nevertheless have had 
some wrong views, and we could not tell but what these views 
were expressed in his letters. The Bible might still contain 
a great deal of valuable information regarding God and our 
relations to him, but it would not be infallible. 



238 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

But God is also the author of Scripture. God writes his- 
tory. The history must therefore be true in every detail. 
God writes psalms. The psalms must therefore express 
proper religious feelings. God writes letters. The letters 
can give no unwise counsel, contain no false reasoning, 
propagate no false doctrine. 

The doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures is one 
of practical and fundamental importance. 



LESSON III. 



SIN. 
The whole Bible is summed up in two words : Sin and 
Salvation. It is with the first of these that we have now to 
deal. The subject is very important; for the conclusions we 
reach regarding sin w T ill affect our opinions in respect to the 
atonement. It is also very wide. In the discussion of it 
four distinct inquiries arise, each of which has been the 
subject of many volumes and much debate. These inquir- 
ies concern: (1.) The nature of sin. (2.) Inability. (3.) 
Original sin. (4.) Adamic relation. 

I. Nature of Sin. 
Is sin a misfortune, or is it a fault? Is it a disease which 
ensures suffering, or is it an offence which deserves punish- 
ment? Is salvation cure or pardon? Our Shorter Catechism 
says: "Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression 
of, the law of God." This statement accords with the voice m 
of conscience and the word of God. Violation of law is 
implied in the idea of doing wrong. Sense of guilt is the 
feeling that punishment is deserved. A crime may prove 
a blunder, for it may cost a man his liberty; and being a 
blunder, he may regret that he committed it. But this is a 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 239 

very different feeling from that which a man entertains 
when he realizes that he did wrong and deserves punish- 
ment. Punishment may have a very salutary effect upon 
the criminal, or it may deter others from committing a sim- 
ilar offence. But neither the reformatory nor the deter- 
rent element of punishment exhausts the idea which the 
word suggests. We feel that justice requires that the of- 
fender shall suffer — that he deserves to suffer. 

If we turn to the Bible, we shall find that sin is spoken 
of as related to law. Man's first sin was disobedience. The 
relation subsisting between God and man, even when man 
was innocent, was that of ruler and ruled — of sovereign and 
subject. Great injustice is done the book of Genesis when 
men regard God exclusively as our Father, and forget he 
is our King. The nature of sin is clearly seen in God's 
treatment of it. The pain w 7 hich the child suffers when he 
burns his finger is not punishment, nor is its removal par- 
don. Sin is always spoken of, however, as being punished 
or pardoned. The suffering which follows it is a judicial 
infliction. Confession of sin presupposes this. We pray 
for forgiveness, not for cure. The heathen are proven to 
be under condemnation though they never had the law of 
Moses ; they are a law unto themselves, and are judged on 
the ground that they violated the law written on the heart. 

" For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by 
nature the things contained in the law, these having not 
the law, are a law unto themselves. Which show the work 
of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also 
bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, 
or else excusing one another." Rom. ii. 14, 15. 

" Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John iii. 4. 

Sin exposes us to punishment. The punishment of sin 
is death— death temporal, death spiritual, death eternal. 
Salvation must mean, therefore, deliverance from condem- 
nation. It may include more than this; it does, as we shall 



240 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

see, but it must assure us of pardon, or it is not salvation. 
The word used to express the idea of exposure to punish- 
ment is guilt. A religion which does not tell us how we 
may be free from guilt does us no good. It may have 
many excellencies, it may inculcate pure morals, but it 
leaves us under condemnation. 

II. Inability. 

All men sin. They have all gone out of the way. There 
is none righteous, no, not one. If we say we have no sin, 
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. We begin 
to sin when we begin to speak. As soon as children per- 
form rational acts they show signs of sinful dispositions. 
They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. 

Sin is a tyrant. Even Christians are not altogether free 
from its dominion. " I delight in the law of God after the 
inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring 
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity 
to the law of sin which is in my members." Rom. vii. 22, 
23. 

How is the universality of sin to be explained ? How is 
its power to be accounted for? There are three answers: 
The Pelagian, the Semi-Pelagian, and the Augustinian. 

The Pelagian says that man is welly that he has full 
ability to do all that is required of him, and that sin is due 
to the effect that he exercises the power of a free agent and 
chooses to sin. 

This is contradicted by conscience, and opposed to the 
Bible. We know that we ought to do what it is out of 
our power to do. Paul said he could not do the things he 
would. The drunkard knows he ought to be sober, but he 
is the slave of appetite. Besides, it does not explain the 
fact that all men do sin to say that they can sin. The Pela- 
gian sees the tree of humanity bearing evil fruit, but fails 
to apply the principle furnished by our Lord. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 241 

The Serai-Pelagian says that raan is sick and needs di- 
vine assistance, though he believes that he may repent of 
his sins and turn to God under the influence of persuasion, 
and without divine influence. And it must be confessed 
that he can repent and believe if he is disposed to do so. 
The difficulty is, however, that he has no disposition to re- 
pent and believe, and will have none until influenced by 
the Spirit of God. This is the opinion of the third class. 

The Augustinian believes that man is dead, and spiritu- 
ally can do nothing good. This is the doctrine of our Con- 
fession: "From this original corruption, whereby we are 
utterly indisposed, disabled and made opposite to all good, 
and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual trans- 
gressions." chap, vi., § 4. Again, " Man, by his fall into a 
state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any 
spiritual good accompanying salvation ; so as a natural 
man, being altogether averse from that good and dead in 
sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself or 
prepare himself thereunto," chap, ix., § 3. 

This doctrine we believe to be true — 

(1.) Because it serves best to explain the universality of 
sin and its controlling power. 

(2.) Because faith and repentance are spoken of in Scrip- 
ture as the gifts of God : 

"By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of 
yourselves : it is the gift of God." Eph. ii. 8. " For unto 
you it is given in behalf of Christ not only to believe in 
him, but also to suffer for his sake." Phil. i. 29. "Then 
hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." 
Acts xi. 18. "If God peradventure will give them repent- 
ance to the acknowledging of the truth." 2 Tim. ii. 25. 

(3.) Because the doctrine is more or less directly affirmed 
in the Scriptures : 

"No man can come to me except the Father who hath sent 
me draw him." John vi. 44. "And you hath he quickened 

21 



242 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

who were dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. ii. 1. "The 
carnal mind is enmity against God, and is not subject to the 
law of God, neither indeed can be." Kom. viii. 7. " The 
natural man discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God, 
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them 
because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. ii. 14. 

It is clear therefore that we need more than pardon. 
Salvation must deliver us from the guilt, and also from the 
power, of sin. It must change our legal condition, and 
also transform our character. The one is, as we shall see, 
the work of Christ, the other that of the Spirit. 

III. Original Sin. 

A man may say: "I admit that I am so constituted that 
I must certainly sin. But am I under condemnation on 
account of the corruption of my nature, from which actual 
trangression proceeds ?" Our standards answer this question 
affirmatively. The Catechism calls the corruption of our 
nature " original sin," and the Confession (ch. vi.) says : 
" Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgres- 
sion of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, 
doth in its own nature bring guilt upon the sinner," etc. 

This is true — 1. Because it is difficult, if not impossible, to 
account for our being responsible for actual transgression, 
if we are not responsible for the corrupt nature from which 
all actual transgressions do proceed. The readiest way of 
explaining our responsibility for sins which our inability 
rendered certain is to suppose that we are accountable for 
our inability. 

2. Because it is involved in our idea of character. The 
fact that a bad act is the indication of a wicked heart 
makes it all the more heinous in our sight. So far from a 
bad disposition being an apology for malicious conduct, the 
disposition itself is the object of our reprehension. 

Moreover, we are conscious of and pray to be delivered 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 243 

from evil thoughts and feelings which are not under our 
control, but which have moral quality, nevertheless. 

3. Because sins of omission are heinous as well as sins 
of commission. We are responsible not only for doing 
what we ought not to have done, but for not doing what we 
ought to have done. We ought to be perfectly holy, and we 
are not, and cannot be. This cannot be explained without 
supposing that we are responsible for our corrupt nature.* 

4. Because physical death is part of the penalty of sin, 
and infants die who have not been guilty of actual trans- 
gression. " And so death passed upon all men, for that all 
have sinned." Bom. v. 12. 

5. Because the Scriptures plainly teach it : We are 
by nature the children of wrath even as others. " For I 
was born in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother conceive 
me." Ps. li. 5. " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs 
of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good 
fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good 
tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt 
tree bring forth good fruit." Matt. vii. 16-19.f 

IV. Adamic Kelation. 

But how T do we become responsible for the corruption of 
our nature? We find the solution in the fifth chapter of 
the Epistle to the Romans. There it is distinctly stated that 
the cause of our transgression was Adam's sin. By one 
man's disobedience many were made sinners. By the 
offence of one judgment came upon all men unto con- 
demnation. 

* See Shedd on the sin of omission, in " Sermons to the Natural 
Man." 

f These verses were his [Augustine's] weapon against the shallow 
Pelagian scheme, which would look at men's deeds apart from the 
living root in man out of which they grew, and suppose that man's 
unaided will is capable of good. — Alford, in loc. 



244 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Our Catechism says : u The covenant being made with 
Adam not only for himself, but for his posterity, all 
mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, 
sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression." 
In the explanation of this relation there is considerable dif- 
ference of opinion among divines in our Church ; some hold 
that Adam, being a sinner, begat children in his own like- 
ness — that is to say, with corrupt natures ; that, having cor- 
rupt natures, they are under condemnation on that account. 
Others hold that there is a oneness of relation between Adam 
and his posterity, so that what he did they did, and what he 
suffered they shared. This oneness is by some held to be a 
realistic oneness — that is, a oneness in the sense that we were 
actually in Adam when he sinned, and actually committed 
the offence. By others it is held to be a federal oneness — that 
is to say, that Adam was the representative of the race, and 
what he did was accounted as being done by his posterity. 
Spiritual death or inability is alike in the case of Adam and 
his posterity the punishment of sin as well as sin itself. 

The inquirer will naturally ask how it can be that the 
fortunes of the race have been staked upon the conduct of 
one. Our inability to answer this question does not 
affect the fact that this is nevertheless the teaching of 
Scripture. It is our duty to accept the truth on God's au- 
thority. This, however, may be said — that, considering the 
way in which the race is perpetuated, no fairer probation 
can be conceived than that which the human race had in 
Adam, who was created in full possession of his faculties 
and in the image of God. It is a blessed thought, moreover, 
that where sin abounded grace did much more abound. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 245 



LESSON IV. 

THE ATONEMENT. 
Sin has been attended with two ruinous results. It has 
exposed the race to condemnation, and it has debased its 
nature. Salvation is therefore a twofold deliverance. 
This is beautifully expressed in Toplady's lines : 

"Be of sin the double cure, 
Cleanse me from its guilt and power." 

Now, all who profess to be Christians regard Jesus as the 
Saviour. What do we mean, however, when we say that 
Jesus is the Saviour? What has he done to justify the 
use of this name ? Different answers are given to these 
questions. They may all be grouped, however, under two 
heads, the Socinian and the sacrificial views. These two 
are the poles apart. They are so different as really to con- 
stitute two different religions. According to the one view, 
Christ is our Saviour because he influences us by his ex- 
ample, teaching, sympathy or otherwise, to lead a better 
life. Similarly, a drunkard might call a man his saviour 
by whose influence he was induced to become sober and 
abstinent. 

The other view regards Christ as our Saviour because he 
died as a sacrifice for our sins. It considers the effect of 
Christ's work to be mainly that of expiating our guilt by 
his own death, and so delivering us from condemnation. 

I. The Socinian View. 
Under this head are classed all who hold that the saving 
work of Christ consists in the effect produced upon our 
personal conduct, and who ignore or deny the fact that his 
death is the ground of pardon. It includes, we regret to 
say, some who believe in the supreme divinity of Christ, 
though it is difficult to see how men can believe that Christ 
21* 



246 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

is God, and at the same time take this low view of his 
work. 

1 . Humanitarians say that Christ was a mere man. He 
taught and practiced a pure morality. He met death in 
the attempt to overthrow a false system. He bore witness 
to the truth, and died a martyr. This is simple enough, 
certainly ; and if true, the wonder is that Paul ever said, 
"Great is the mystery of godliness." There would be no 
mystery about it. 

2. Others go so far as to say that Jesus, though a crea- 
ture, was far above every other creature, that he existed 
before he became incarnate, that he came to bear God's 
message, to disclose the doctrine of immortality, to preach 
a pure faith and be an example of a spotless life. His 
death was didactic. It was to teach us the lesson of self- 
sacrifice, and was that of a hero. 

3. Some believe in the supreme divinity of Christ, but 
still believe that his saving influence consisted in supplying 
us with new motives for living a better life. He not only 
became incarnate that he might be an embodiment of per- 
fect manhood, but he entered into partnership with us in 
the trials of life in order that he might win us by his sym- 
pathy, and induce us to leave our sins and lead a holy life. 
His death was a dramatic exhibition of his sympathy. 

4. And there is a class of mystical thinkers who main- 
tain, with those already mentioned, the subjective view of 
Christ's saving work, though they hold that the improved 
conduct of the Christian is not the effect of example, and 
is not the result of moral suasion, but is the result of a par- 
taking, in some mysterious way, of the life of Christ. 

Differing though these classes do from one another, we 
can see at a glance that they all identify salvation with 
personal holiness, or, rather, with reformation. The objec- 
tions, therefore, which follow are to be urged against them 
all. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 247 

1. The SociDian view assumes that God will pardon men 
on condition of repentance and reformation. This is alto- 
gether contrary to Scripture. It teaches that condemna- 
tion is universal. " Judgment hath come upon all men to 
condemnation," that every mouth may be stopped, and all 
the world become guilty before God. This condemnation 
is everlasting, for it stands in contrast with the everlast- 
ing life which Christ gives ; and those who reject that shall 
never see life, but the w T rath of God abideth on them. 
From this condemnation it is impossible for men to be de- 
livered by works of the law. " Therefore, by works of the 
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight/' 

2. This view identifies salvation w^ith good conduct, but 
makes no provision for our deliverance from the bondage 
of sin. 

Let it be granted that if we are holy God will forgive 
us. How are we to be holy ? Men do not love holiness ; 
they are, by virtue of their depravity, " made opposite to 
all good." Good example and a high standard will not 
influence men who are dead in sin. Nor will they be moved 
by Christ's sympathy. The view under notice fails to do 
justice either to the guilt or to the power of sin. 

3. It does not explain the fact that salvation is so con- 
stantly referred to Christ's death. If the good we derive 
from Christ is his example, or his doctrine, or his sympathy, 
it is singular that the sacred writers refer so constantly to 
his death. We should expect them to say as little about 
the cross as those do who preach the view T s to which we are 
now alluding. On the contrary, Jesus Christ and him cru- 
cified was the theme of apostolic preaching. 

4. But these opinions in regard to the work of Christ are 
false because they are in conflict with the passages which 
have a sacrificial import. These may be more properly 
alluded to, however, under the next view, to which we now 
pass. 



248 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

IL The Sacrificial View. 

The view which we are now to consider embraces all those 
who hold that the death of Christ was a sacrifice, on account 
of which God pardons sin and receives us into his favor. 
There is room, of course, for a difference of opinion in re- 
gard to the exact relation in which the sacrifice of Christ 
stands to our salvation. But with this we are not at pres- 
ent concerned. 

It should be remembered, however, that those who believe 
in the sacrificial character of Christ's death do not hold in 
less esteem than the advocates of the Socinian view his ex- 
ample, teaching and sympathy. On the contrary, it is 
through the benefits which flow from Christ's sacrifice that 
we are able to appreciate Christ's example, to improve un- 
der his teaching, or to be affected by his exhibition of sym- 
pathy. 

The view to which reference has just been made is seri- 
ously false. Great care should be taken not to be imposed 
upon by theories which, though they retain orthodox 
phraseology, are in radical opposition to the gospel. A 
theory which denies that Christ is the propitiation for our 
sin, and that we have redemption through his blood, is not 
the gospel of Christ. The sacrificial character of Christ's 
death will appear : 

1. From the fact that our salvation is so constantly re- 
ferred to his death. It is his death which he would have 
us remember in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The 
bread represents his body, " broken for us ;" the wine his 
blood, which was " shed for many for the remission of sins." 
We are "reconciled to God by the death of his Son." "We 
have redemption through his blood." " Christ died for the 
ungodly." These passages are unmeaning if Christ saves 
by moral suasion or force of good example. They are per- 
fectly plain, however, if his death was an expiatory offering. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 249 

The Jews were accustomed to a sacrificial system ; and 
when Jesus was spoken of as the Lamb of God who taketh 
away the sin of the world, they saw the reference at once to 
the sacrifice of the lamb without blemish which the law of 
Moses ordained. 

2. Passages abound in Scripture which teach that Christ 
redeemed us. " We are redeemed by the precious blood of 
Christ as of a lamb without blemish." " Christ hath re- 
deemed us to God by his blood." " We are bought with a 
price." Christ said that he came to give " his life a ransom 
for many." 

3. Christ is a priest, and a priest, moreover, " who needeth 
not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice first for 
his own sins, and then for the people's, for this he did once 
when he offered up himself." " For if the blood of bulls 
and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the un- 
clean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much 
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal 
Spirit offered himself without spot unto God, purge your 
consciences from dead w T orks to serve the living God ?" Heb. 
ix. 13, 14. 

4. Christ is called a Sacrifice. He is said to have given 
himself " an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet 
smelling savor." " Christ was once offered to bear the sins 
of many." " He is the propitiation for our sins." " He was 
made sin for us who knew no sin." " He bore our sins in 
his own body on the tree." " The Lord hath laid upon him 
the iniquity of us all." 

5. If Christ was a sacrifice, the teachings of the Bible 
are consistent. If he was not, they cannot be explained. 
And this constitutes a very strong argument. 

Those who say that Christ's death was not sacrificial are 
compelled — (a.) To do violence to language by saying that 
the Old Testament sacrifices were not expiatory ; or (b.) to 
affirm that there is no analogy between the death of Christ 



250 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

and the sacrifices of the old economy, and that the repre- 
sentations of the New Testament are figurative. 

As to the first position, we can only say that if the book 
of Leviticus, and the sixteenth chapter particularly, does not 
teach that the offerings were penal, vicarious and expiatory, 
language cannot be found which will convey the idea. And 
as to the second, we remark that if the language of the 
New Testament is figurative, the writers of it w T ere more 
given to poetical expressions than any writers who have ever 
lived. If the sober utterances of inspired men can be ex- 
plained away on the ground that they are metaphorical, 
Talleyrand was truly right in saying that language was 
meant to conceal thought. Those, however, who assume that 
the apostles found it necessary to employ falsifying metaphors 
in order to commend the gospel to the Jews must assume that 
God's education of that nation was a failure. It would be 
strange if the effect of their being made the custodians of 
the oracles of God should be to unfit them for receiving the 
gospel except through the channel of falsehood. 

The view which regards the death of Christ as a sac- 
rifice is much simpler and more natural. It explains 
how his death is spoken of as the ground of salvation. It 
shows that the Jewish ritual was a type of Christ, and so 
preserves the unity of the two Testaments. It leads us, too, 
to see how God prepared for the advent of Christ by fa- 
miliarizing the Jews with the language of the altar, so that 
it was no strange thing for them to learn that we have re- 
ceived " redemption through his blood." 

The Bible represents Christ as executing the offices of 
prophet, priest and king. Our Shorter Catechism, in the^ 
answer to Question 25, says ; " Christ executeth the office 
of a priest in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to 
satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in mak- 
ing continual intercession for us." 

The relation of the sacrifice of Christ to the pardon of 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 251 

our sins and our acceptance with God would be more prop- 
erly considered under the head of Justification. Meanwhile, 
notice that three things are to be said of the death of 
Christ : 

1. It was penal. 

It was not the result of unavoidable circumstances, for 
Jesus said, I lay down my life ; no man taketh it from me. 
Nor was it didactic, merely, intended as a manifestation of 
sympathy or an illustration of heroism. It was judicial. 
He was delivered for our offences. He was made a curse 
for us. 

2. It was vicarious. 

He knew no sin ; and if he stood in legal relations and en- 
dured penalty, it must have been for others. He bore our 
sins in his own body on the tree. He died, the just for the 
unjust. He gave his life a ransom for many (in place of 
many). 

3. It was expiatory. 

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. 



LESSON F. 
THE PERSON OF CHRIST. 

Who is Jesus ? We know what he did. He gave his life 
as our ransom. He died to expiate our guilt. He is our 
Saviour. Our Lord once asked his disciples, What think ye 
of Christ ? and the same question has fallen upon the ear 
of humanity ever since. Three leading replies have been 
given. Humanitarians say that Christ is a man, and nothing 
more. Arians say that Christ, though a creature, was more 
than man. The Nicene or orthodox view, is that Christ is 
both God and man. Let us notice these replies in their 
order. 



252 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

I. The Humanitarians. 

Two classes are embraced under this head: (a) those 
who deny that there is anything supernatural in Christ's 
life, and who say that he was born, lived and died as other 
men ; (b) those who believe that Christ was only a man, 
but who believed also in his supernatural birth, his divine 
commission and his resurrection from the dead. 

Humanitarians affirm a very important truth when they 
say that Christ was a man. It may be well, therefore, to 
emphasize this fact, which we hold in common with them, 
before we consider the point of difference which separates 
us from them. 

Jesus Christ was a man. He is spoken of eighty-two times 
in the New Testament as the Son of man. He is called the 
man Christ Jesus. He had a " true body." It was not a 
phantasm or shadow, as the Docetse thought. Our Lord was 
born of a woman. His body grew and increased in strength. 
During the temptation he hungered. On the cross he cried, 
"I thirst." He w T as wearied. He slept once at night in a 
boat, and rested once at noon by a well. He had a true 
body after his resurrecction. The doubting disciple had 
proof of this. He went up to heaven with a real, though a 
glorified, body. 

He also had " a reasonable soul." This has been denied. 
The Apollinarians believed in what is called the tripartite 
nature of man, and held that, while Christ had a human 
body and the animal soul, the spirit was wanting, and 
that its place was supplied by the Logos. In a modified 
form this view is maintained by some at the present day. 
It is false, however ; our Lord's life was as completely hu- 
man as it was completely divine. He suffered ; he rejoiced 
in spirit^ he loved ; he wept ; he formed friendships ; he 
used the language of indignation ; he was tempted ; he 
was made under the law; his soul was exceeding sorrow- 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 253 

fill even unto death. If Christ had no human soul, these 
references would have no meaning, A human body is not 
a man. An angel in human form is not a man. God in 
the garment of flesh and blood could not be called a man. 
If Christ had no soul, he was not human, and was not our 
brother. 

The full humanity of Jesus is a truth of vital importance. 
All that is precious in Christian experience is involved in 
it. Christ must be a man — 

1. That he might be our example. He has left us an ex- 
ample that we should follow in his steps. 

2. That he might sympathize with us. Having suffered, 
being tempted, he is able also to succor them who are 
tempted. 

3. That he might take our place in law. He was made 
under the law that he might redeem them who are under 
the law. 

4. That he might be our High Priest. "For every high 
priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things 
pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices 
for sin." 

5. That he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest 
in things pertaining to God. " Being tempted in all points, 
like as we are, yet without sin." 

And yet the humanity of Christ is of little worth if 
Christ is only a man. Humanitarians lavish eulogies on 
Jesus, but they are only laying garlands on the grave of the 
dead. We worship a living Christ. It is because he is more 
than man — that Christianity is not a system of philosophy 
on the one hand, or a system of hero-worship on the other. 

We may appeal to Christ's character to prove that he was 
not an ordinary man — that he was, to say the least, divinely 
inspired. Some find in it proof of his divinity, but this is 
to make it responsible for conclusions which are not 
legitimately deducible from it. We are not shut up to the 

22 



254 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

belief in Christ's divinity because his character is, as Dr. 
Schaff says, " the greatest moral miracle in history." * 

The character of Christ is peerless. The words of Pilate 
are the verdict of the ages : I find no fault in him. But 
perfect manhood is no evidence of Deity. When we are 
asked to account for this solitary instance of perfection, we 
are driven to the conclusion that Christ stood in intimate 
relation with God. As Nicodemus would have said : no 
man could have lived as he lived except God were with 
him. And yet Christ may have had a supernatural birth, 
have lived a perfect life and have risen from the dead, and 
still have been a man — a mere man, though by no means an 
ordinary man. But Christ was more than man, as we shall 
see. 

II. The Arians. 

It is difficult to understand how any one can believe the 
teachings of the New Testament and suppose that Christ 
was a mere man. Arians, though they believe that Christ 
is a creature, reject the Humanitarian view. Their belief may 
be stated in the words of Dr. Samuel Clarke, an Arian of 
the last century : " With this first or supreme cause or Fa- 
ther of all things, there has existed from the beginning a 
second divine person who is the Word or Son." " The Father 
alone," he says elsewhere, "is, absolutely speaking, the God 
of the universe." Arians appeal to the numerous passages 
of Scripture which teach the pre-existence of Jesus,f such 
as John iii. 16 : " But he that came down from heaven." ix. 
64 : " What if ye shall see the Son of man ascending up where 
he was before." xvii. 4 : "And now, O Father, glorify thou 
me with the glory w r hich I had with thee before the world 

* See SchafFs " Person of Christ," and Dr. Bushnell's chapter on the 
character of Christ in his "Nature and the Supernatural." 

t Clarke on the Trinity. 

See the admirable chapter on the pre-existence of Christ in Hill's 
"Lectures on Divinitv." 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 255 

was." The Arian finds that the Scriptures place Christ on 
a plane far above that of mere humanity, for they teach 
that Christ existed long before he came in the flesh, and 
that in his pre-existent state he exercised authority, wielded 
power, received homage, which proves him to be invested 
with a dignity which is shared by no other creature — which 
takes him out of the sphere of created beings altogether, we 
should say. But we shall come to that presently. 

Arianism fails to explain the teachings of Scripture re- 
specting Christ. It refutes Humanitarianism by showing 
that Christ is more than man. It is in turn refuted by Hu- 
manitarianism, which proves that Christ was at least a man. 
Arianism is false because it destroys Christ's humanity,* 
and because it denies his deity. His humanity has been 
proved. His deity must now be considered. 

III. The Nicene Doctrine. 
The Council of Nice in 325 A. D. condemned Arianism, 
and affirmed that "the Son is begotten out of the essence 
of the Father, God of God, Light of light, very God of very 
God, begotten not created, consubstantial with the Father." 
The Nicene creed expresses the faith of the Christian Church. 
But before the evidence for the deity of Christ is presented, 
notice that the Arian has already overcome the greatest 
difficulty connected with the person of Christ in admitting 
the supernatural element which enters into it. The Arian 
is the ally of the orthodox in proving, in opposition to the 

* The incarnation, according to Arius, was merely the assumption 
by the Son of a human body, his nature supplying the place of a 
soul. Robertson's " Church History," vol. i., p. 208. 

" You run counter to all the ancients in supposing the Logos to 
have supplied the place of a human soul, and making the Logos as 
such possible. 1 ' Waterland's "Vindication" (reply to Dr. Clarke). 

" We believe that Jesus is one mind, soul — one being, as truly 
as we are one, and equally distinct from the one God." Channing ? 3 
" Unitarian Christianity." 



256 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Humanitarian, that Christ existed ages before he was born, 
and was in the bosom of the Father before the world was 
made. The question now is to determine whether Jesus is 
the highest of all creatures or whether he is God. There 
are some passages of Scripture which, though they naturally 
suggest the deity of Christ, may, we admit, be construed in 
an Arian sense; and since we can quote only a few, we shall 
not mention these at all. The following passages teach the 
deity of Christ unequivocally : 

1. Christ claimed to be equal with God. He said, "I and 
my Father are one." " My Father worketh hitherto, and I 
work." " That ye may know the Son of man hath power on 
earth to forgive sins, I say unto thee, Arise." " Have I been 
so long a time with thee, and yet hast thou not known me, 
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and 
how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" 

On the supposition that Christ is less than God, these ut- 
terances cannot be explained. The Jews understood him 
to lay claim to divine honors, and stoned him on that account: 
" We stone thee for blasphemy because thou, being a man, 
makest thyself God." Christ did not tell them that they 
had misunderstood him. He accepted their interpretation 
of his claims. The claims of Christ are backed by his 
character and his miracles. It is impossible to believe that 
so pure a man as Jesus was would pretend to be what he w T as 
not, or that God would enable him to work miracles in sup- 
port of a falsehood. 

2. Christ is the angel of the covenant.* When God re- 
vealed himself to the patriarchs, it was usually in the form 
of an angel. An angel appeared to Jacob at Bethel, to 
Moses on Sinai. The angel of the Lord went before the 
camp of Israel in their journeying through the wilderness. 
We have abundant proof that this angel was not a created 

*See Hill's "Lectures in Divinity" on actions ascribed to Jesus in 
his pre-existent state. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 257 

being ; he is invariably spoken of as God. " The angel of 
the Lord spake with me," says Jacob, "saying, I am the 
God of Bethel." The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses 
in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush. "And when 
the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto 
him out of the midst of the bush." There can be no doubt 
that the same person is called angel and Jehovah. " The an- 
gel" or "the angel of the covenant" was understood by the 
Jews to mean the person who had appeared to the patri- 
archs, and who led Israel through the desert. This person 
was divine, for he is called Jehovah. If it can be shown 
that this person was Christ, it will prove that Christ is God. 
We read in Malachi iii. 1 : "Behold, I send my messenger, 
and he shall prepare the way before me : and the Lord 
whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the 
messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in." This 
prophecy is referred in the gospel to John the Baptist. 
John the Baptist is therefore the messenger of whom it is 
said, " He shall prepare the way before me." But John the 
Baptist prepared the way for Christ. Christ is therefore the 
one referred to in Malachi, in the next clause of the verse, 
as the Lord (Jehovah), the messenger (angel) of the 
covenant. 

3. Christ is called God in the New Testament : " In the 
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God. . . . And the Word was made flesh, 
and dwelt amongst us." John i. 

"And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord 
and my God." John xx. 28. 

" Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock 
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to 
feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his 
own blood." Acts xx. 28. 

" Of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is 
over all, God blessed for ever." Rom. ix. 5. 

22* 



258 PREPARING TO TEACH, 

" Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the 
flesh." 1 Tim. iii. 16. 

" This (person, Jesus Christ) is the true God and eternal 
life." 1 John v. 20. 

" Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing 
of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 
ii. 3.* 

These passages directly assert the deity of Christ. It 
must be remembered, too, that he is referred to in the 
Psalms and the prophets in terms which would be inapplic- 
able to any creature. He is called the mighty God, the 
everlasting Father, the Prince of peace. In the New Testa- 
ment, he is constantly called the Lord, our Lord, the Lord of 
glory. He is before all things. He is the first-born of every 
creature. The world was made by him. He is the image of 
the invisible God. He is to be honored even as we honor 
the Father. He is the judge of men. He is the object of 
worship. He is omnipresent and omniscient. He does di- 
vine acts, is the subject of divine attributes, shares divine 
honors, and is called God. If we are willing to accept the 
Scriptures as our infallible rule of faith, the deity of Christ 
must be considered as proved. 

It is urged by objectors that it is impossible to compre- 
hend how the Son can be God and the Father God, 
and yet that there is only one God. It is a mystery, of 
course. But the doctrine is not false because it is incom- 
prehensible. It is not strange that the relations which the 
persons of the Godhead sustain to one another baffle our 
comprehension. 

It is also said that Christ speaks of himself as subordinate 
to the Father. He says, " My Father is greater than I." 

* Ellicott, Com. in loc, says, " It is difficult to resist the conviction 
that our blessed Lord is here said to be our fieyac Gedc, and that this 
text is a direct, definite, and even studied, declaration of the divinity of 
the eternal Son." 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 259 

He intimates that some things are known to the Father 
which are not known to the Son : " But of that day and 
that hour knoweth no man ; no, not the angels which are 
in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father." Mark xiii. 32. 

But we must remember that Christ had a finite human 
nature as well as an infinite divine nature. Christ, though 
co-equal with the Father, was officially subordinate to him 
in his mediatorial work. These considerations fully ex- 
plain the passages referred to without derogating from 
Christ's divinity. 

The deity. of Christ is a practical doctrine. Between 
those who believe and those who deny it the distance is 
measureless. If Christ is a creature, we are idolaters w 7 ho 
worship him. If Christ is God, his death cannot be explained 
except upon the principle that without the shedding of 
blood there is no remission. Those who deny the deity 
of Christ, as a rule, deny the sacrificial character of his 
death. Those who believe that his death was the propitiation 
for our sins are naturally led to believe that he is God. It 
is well to notice how the doctrines confirm one another. 
Sin calls for sacrifice, as we have already seen; but the 
sacrifice of an angel could not save us. It must be a human 
sacrifice. Christ is the sacrifice, and he has a human nature. 
But the death of a mere man could not atone for our sins. 
It must be the death of a divine person to give it value. 
Christ had a divine nature. 

The Scripture doctrine of the person of Christ is summed 
up in these propositions : 

1. He had a complete human nature — i. e., a true body 
and a reasonable soul. 

2. He had a true divine nature. He was God. 

3. These natures exist entire and distinct, without mixture 
or confusion. 

4. He is one person. 

Though having two natures, he has only a single person- 



260 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ality. He is the divine person who existed from all eter- 
nity. 

Our Shorter Catechism expresses this by saying that 
"The only redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and 
so was, and continues to be, God and man, in two distinct 
natures and one person for ever." 



LESSON VI. 
THE TRINITY. 

Religion presupposes God. Belief in God is universal, 
and is vindicated by valid arguments. There is need of an 
authoritative standard to give us information regarding 
God's nature, and to arbitrate between conflicting opinions. 
That standard is the Bible. These propositions have all 
been considered. 

The Bible teaches — 

1. That God is. 

It does not offer proof of his existence. It takes it for 
granted. It relates what God said and did, and what he 
would have us believe and do. 

2. That there is only one God. 

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Deut. vi. 
4. " But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom 
are all things." 1 Cor. viii. 5. There is evidence in history, 
and apart from Scripture, that polytheism is the corrupted 
form of an original monotheistic faith. For a preservation 
of monotheism, however, we are indebted to revelation. 
Jews, Mohammedans and Christians believe in one God be- 
cause they have been taught by the Bible. 

3. That he is extra-mundane. 

Pantheists profess to believe in God, but they identify 
God with the universe. God is everything, and everything 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 261 

is God. The Scriptures teach that God is distinct from the 
world, for he made it : " Before the mountains were brought 
forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Ps. 
xc. 2. 

4. That he is a spirit, infinite in every perfection. 
"God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship 

him in spirit and in truth." John iv. 24. Our Shorter Cate- 
chism gives this answer to the question, What is God? God 
is a spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his being, wis- 
dom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.* 

5. That he is a person. 

This is involved in the attributes first ascribed to him. 
He is not a force, a tendency, a law. He is a person whom 
we can address, whom we can love, who can reward or pun- 
ish us. To deny the personality of God is, to all intents 
and purposes, to avow Atheism. f 

But this is not all. We have reached conclusions regard- 
ing Christ which make it necessary to believe more than 
we have yet stated regarding God. 

Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is likewise the Son of 
God. So that w r e have God the Father and God the Son. 
We have God the Holy Ghost also, as we shall see. For it 
can be shown — (a) That the Holy Ghost is a person. 
Some orthodox people, because they are very thoughtless or 
very ignorant, speak of the Holy Ghost as it The Holy 
Ghost is not simply the power of God, a divine influence or 
energy. He is a person, as we are clearly taught in passages 
like the following : " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." 

* For remarks on the attributes of God, see the commentary on the 
Confession of Faith, by Dr. A. A. Hodge. 

f Matthew Arnold defines God to be a stream of tendency according 
to which all things fulfill the law of their being. The great mistake 
of Christianity, according to him, consists in regarding God as a per- 
son. — Literature and Dogma. 



262 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Eph. iv. 30. " The Spirit maketh intercession for us with 
groanings which cannot be uttered." Kom. viii. 26. " The 
Spirit said unto Peter, Behold, three men seek thee." Acts 
x. 19. The Holy Ghost said, " Separate me Barnabas and 
Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Acts 
xiii. 2. 

" The Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, whom the Fa- 
ther will send in my name ; he shall teach you all things." 
John xiv. 26.* 

(b.) That the Holy Ghost is God. 

There are few who believe that the Holy Ghost is a crea- 
ture. Those who deny the Trinity maintain that by the Spirit 
is simply meant the operation of God or the influence 
which God exerts. The deity of the Spirit seems to follow 
when his personality is established. It is very clear that 
he is not a creature. The unpardonable sin is blasphemy 
against the Holy Ghost. Ananias was told that he had lied 
to the Holy Ghost. And when Peter repeated the statement, 
he said that he had lied unto God. To lie unto the Holy 
Ghost, therefore, is to lie unto God. 

Again, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Christians 
are spoken of as temples of God, and this is explained by 
the statement that the Spirit of God dw T elleth in them. We 
are taught to honor the Spirit as we honor the Father and 
the Son, for we are baptized in his name, and the apostolic 
benediction invokes the communion of the Holy Ghost as 
well as the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The Scriptures teach, therefore, 1. That there is only one 
God. 2. That the Father is God; that the Son is God; 
that the Holy Ghost is God. 

Those who accept these facts differ in their explanation of 
them, and their difference is brought out in the two leading 
opinions on the Trinity : the Sabellian and the Athanasian. 
* See Pearson on the Creed, art. viii. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE, 263 

I. The Sabellian Doctrine. 

The Scripture requires us to believe in the deity of the 
Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and at the 
same time preserve the doctrine of the divine unity. This 
is a difficulty. The first, and perhaps the most natural, 
solution of it would be what is known in Church history as 
Sabellianism, or the doctrine of a modal Trinity. Those 
who hold this opinion suppose that the same Being mani- 
fests himself, at one time and in one relation, as Father ; 
at another time and in another relation, as Son ; and at 
another time and in another relation, as Holy Ghost. As 
Creator, God is Father; as Redeemer, he is the Son; as 
Sanctifier, he is the Holy Ghost, just as the same man 
may be known by different names at different times and 
under different circumstances. As a church officer, he 
may be called deacon ; as a professional man, he may be 
called judge ; while a third party, associating his name 
with army reminiscences, may call him general. 

The doctrine of a modal Trinity, however, does not teach 
the whole truth. It teaches truly that the Father is God, that 
the Son is God, that the Holy Ghost is God, and yet that 
there are not three Gods, but one God. But it denies that 
the Father is a person distinct from the Son, the Son a per- 
son distinct from the Holy Ghost, and that the Holy Ghost 
is a person distinct from the Father and the Son. " The 
scriptural facts are — (a) the Father says I, the Son says T, 
the Spirit says I. (b) The Father says thou to the Son, 
and the Son says thou to the Father, and in like manner 
the Father and Son use the pronouns he and him in refer- 
ence to the Spirit, (c) The Father loves the Son, the Son 
loves the Father, the Spirit testifies of the Son."* 

In other words, the Scriptures teach the doctrine of a 
tri-personal God. 

*Dr. Hodge, "Systematic Theology/' vol. i., p. 444. 



264 PREPARING TO 1EACH. 

II. The Athanasian Doctrine. 

The full scriptural doctrine of the Trinity is set forth in 
the so-called Athanasian creed. We quote a few sentences : 

" But this is the catholic faith, that we worship one God 
in trinity, and trinity in unity. Neither confounding the 
persons nor dividing the substance. For the person of the 
Father is one, of the Son another, of the Holy Spirit an- 
other. But the divinity of the Father and of the Son 
and of the Holy Ghost is one, the glory equal, the majesty 
equal. Such as is the Father, such also is the Son, and 
such the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreated, the Son is 
uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is 
infinite, the Son is infinite, the Holy Ghost is infinite. The 
Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Ghost is 
eternal. And yet there are not three eternal beings, but 
one eternal Being. As also there are not three uncreated 
beings nor three infinite beings, but one uncreated and 
one infinite Being." 

It is to be noticed that the Athanasian creed does not add 
anything to what the Scriptures themselves teach regarding 
God. The Bible teaches — (1) That there is only one God. 
(2) That the Father is God, the Son God, the Holy Ghost 
God. (3) That Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three 
distinct persons. These three facts constitute the Church 
doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine being proved, it is 
natural that we should find references to it in the Old Tes- 
tament, where the word Elohim (God) appears in the plural 
form ; where God says let us make man ; in the trinal form 
of adoration : Holy, Holy, Holy ; and in the threefold form 
of blessing. There are repeated references to it in the New 
Testament, but the most remarkable are found in the bap- 
tismal formula and in the apostolic benediction. 

The three persons of the Trinity, though the same in 
substance, equal in power and glory, nevertheless sustain 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 265 

such a relation to each other that the Father is first, the 
Son second, the Holy Ghost third. The second person 
is so related to the first as to be called the Son, but what 
the relation implies we do not know. The Son has been 
Son from all eternity, and did not assume the title at his 
incarnation. The Holy Ghost " proceedeth " from the 
Father and the Son, but what this expression implies we 
cannot say. 

If the separate elements which enter into the doctrine 
of the Trinity are proved to be taught in Scripture, the 
only reasonable mode of objecting to the doctrine is that of 
denying the authority of Scripture ; and many do stand in 
this defiant attitude. But there are many who are not 
willing to concede that the separate elements of the doc- 
trine are taught in Scripture. In other words, they deny 
that the deity of Christ is taught in the Bible. Of course, 
as long as they do this, it is unnecessary for them to urge, 
or even for us to consider, further objections against the 
doctrine of the Trinity. Unitarians, however, are fond of 
making the doctrine of the Trinity appear ridiculous. And 
some w T ho do not disbelieve the deity of Christ are per- 
plexed by the difficulties which they meet in Trinitarian 
theology, and make a truce with doubt by assuming that, 
after all, the doctrine is not of much practical importance. 
To illustrate : 

1. It is said that the doctrine of the Trinity involves a 
contradiction. But this is a mistake. The Church does 
not teach that three persons are one person, but that one 
Being exists in three persons. It is assumed always by 
those who ridicule Trinitarian faith that we suppose that 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three persons, in the same 
sense that Peter, James and John are three individuals. 
But we do not. What do we believe ? We believe — (1) 
that there is one God ; (2) that God is tri-personal — that is 
to say, that Father, Son and Ho'y Ghost are so distinct 



266 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

that the Father can address the Son, the Son address the 
Father and speak of sending the Spirit. The Scripture 
teaches these facts regarding the relation of Father, Son 
and Spirit, and the word person expresses them better than 
any other. 

Again, it is asked how the Son can be as old as the 
Father. The object of the question is to involve the doc- 
trine of the Trinity in a contradiction, for of course, if 
Christ is God, he is co-eternal with the Father. But we 
cannot fathom the meaning of the words "Father" and 
" Son " when used to express the relations of the first and 
second Persons of the Trinity. We know that there is a 
relation between them which these names are used to 
express. Beyond that we are in the dark. 

2. It is said that the doctrine is inconceivable. But this 
is not true. Every statement of the Athanasian creed 
is a plain proposition. It is incomprehensible, without 
doubt. But that is not strange. The incomprehensibility 
of the doctrine should not make us doubt its truth or ques- 
tion its importance. 

3. It is said that the subject is of no great practical value. 
This, too, is a grave mistake. This is a fundamental doc- 
trine. Sin is the violation of God's law, hence our need 
of pardon. Pardon must be preceded by propitiation. 
The propitiation is made by Christ, and to give it value 
Christ must be divine. The divinity of Christ proves the 
doctrine of the Trinity. Those who deny the Trinity deny, 
as a rule, the deity of Christ, deny that Christ made an 
atonement, and deny that sin is such a violation of God's 
law that it incurs God's wrath and curse to all eternity. 

The doctrines of Scripture are so related that if we deny 
the Trinity we part company with the gospel. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 267 

LESSON VII. 

JUSTIFICATION. 

A man dies and goes to heaven, let us suppose. Now, 
why ? That is a practical question, certainly. And yet the 
answer to it fills a long chapter in theological discussion. 
It is a mistake, therefore, to suppose that religion can be 
divorced from theology. 

Between man the sinner and Christ the Saviour, there 
must be some relation which constitutes the foundation 
of Christian hope, and which furnishes material for an 
answer to the- question which we have just asked. All 
professing Christians would agree, perhaps, in saying that 
Christ saves us by securing our justification, or that we 
enter heaven because we are justified. But there are differ- 
ences of opinion respecting the nature, ground, means and 
ejfect* of justification, and these differences represent dif- 
ferent answers to the question just propounded, if, in fact, 
they do not constitute different religions. 

I. The Nature of Justification. 
There are two, and only two, leading views on this sub- 
ject ; for justification must refer either to a change of cha- 
racter or to a change of legal condition. It must be moral 
or forensic. The difference between these views is apparent. 
A criminal under sentence of death is pardoned. The 
pardon does not alter the man's nature or reform his 
character ; the change of which he is the subject is simply 
legal. If his pardon were called his justification, the word 
justification would be used in a forensic sense. Again, a 
man is imprisoned for crime, and under reformatory influ- 

* These four points " may be justly said to include whatever is 
essential and fundamental in the doctrine of justification." — Buchan- 
an on Justification, p. 113. 



268 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

ences his conduct improves. If we should speak of the 
change wrought on the man's character as his justifica- 
tion, we should be using the word in a moral sense ; there- 
fore, when a man says that he believes in "justification by 
faith," it is very important to know whether he uses the 
word justification in a moral or in a forensic sense. Let 
us consider these senses separately. 

1. Moral. — The controversy between the Protestants and 
the Roman Catholics at the Reformation turned largely 
on the nature of justification, the latter using the word in a 
moral sense, though not to the exclusion of the forensic — 
the former using it in the forensic sense alone. Justifica- 
tion is defined by the Council of Trent* to 'be "not only 
the remission of sins, but the renewal and sanctification 
of the inner man." According to the Church of Rome, 
therefore, justification consists in a change of moral cha- 
racter produced by the removal of original sin and the in- 
fusion of righteousness. But besides this moral use of the 
word, in behalf of which they contended with the Protest- 
ants, they recognized its forensic or judicial meaning; and 
unless this is kept in mind, we shall fall into confusion 
when we study their position respecting the ground of 
justification, for they very strenuously teach, in opposition 
to Protestants, that we are justified by an inherent righteous- 
ness. But inherent righteousness is justification, as we have 
already seen ; and how can inherent righteousness be the 
essence of justification and the ground of justification at 
the same time ? The only solution is, that the Roman 
Catholics use the word both in its moral and in its judicial 

* Cone. Trid., Sess. VI., cap. 7: " Justificatio non est sola peceato- 
rnm, remissio sedet sanctificatio et renovatio interioris dominis per 
voluntariara susceptionem gratiat et donorura unde homo ex in- 
justo fit Justus, et ex itiiniico fit amicus ut sit haeres secundum 
spem vitse oetenue, etc." — Quoted in Winer's Confessions of Chris- 
tendom. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE, 269 

sense — the moral when they speak of the nature of justifi- 
cation, and the judicial when they speak of its ground. 

Those who hold the moral-influence theory of the atone- 
ment use the word justification in its moral sense. They 
take the element of guilt out of sin, the element of law out 
of the atonement, and the element of pardon out of salva- 
tion. Sin, they say, brings suffering. To get rid of suffering 
we must cease to sin. Christ is our Saviour because he de- 
livers us from our sins. Men need cure and not pardon. 
Justification is a moral change and not a legal one. We 
go to heaven because we are holy.* 

This view of justification is similar to that taught by the 
Roman Catholic Church, but it is more unscriptural and 
unevangelical. For, false as the Romish doctrine of justi- 
fication is, it proceeds upon a recognition of the doctrine of 
original sin, the need of supernatural grace and the expia- 
tory character of the atonement. The moral-influence theory 
ignores or denies these cardinal doctrines, while, in common 
with the Roman Catholics, it teaches that we go to heaven 
on the ground of what we are. And yet this doctrine has 
its defenders in so-called evangelical pulpits ! We should 
be on our guard against it ; it is another gospel. 

* So the sinner is justified, and the justification is a most vital af- 
fair — "the justification of life." The true account of it is that Je- 
sus, coming into the world with all God's righteousness upon him, 
declaring it to guilty souls in all the manifold evidences of his life 
and passion, wins their faith ; and by that faith they are connected 
again with the life of God, and filled and overspread with his 
righteousness." — BushnelVs Vicarious Sacrifice, p. 435. 

"This first step, or look, Godward, this incipient but genuine 
movement of the child-spirit, is justification, rectification, the right- 
ing, Tightening, setting right of the soul which was before wholly 
wrong." — John Young's Christ the Light and Life of Men, p. 171. 

"Therefore, the pardon of sin, in any other sense than the reveal- 
ing and the opening to us of the path of life, is now to us as undesir- 
able as, in relation to the moral government of the Father of spirits, 
it is inconceivable." — McLeod Campbell on the Atonement, p. 183. 
23* 



270 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

2. Forensic. — The Protestant churches hold the forensic 
view 'of justification. Calvinists and Arminians agree in 
affirming that justification expresses a change of legal con- 
dition, and not a change of moral character. But they 
differ in this way : Arminians, the later ones especially, 
say that justification means pardon; Calvinists say that 
it means pardon and acceptance. To illustrate : the execu- 
tive pardons a criminal, but he does not treat him as 
if he had never done wrong. God, however, not only 
pardons his children, but he treats them as if they had 
never sinned. He counts them as if they were righteous. 
Our catechism says : " Justification is an act of God's free 
grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us 
as righteous in his sight.' ' It is easy to show that this is 
the scriptural view of justification — that is to say, that jus- 
tification is a judicial act, and that it is more than pardon. 

1. A Judicial Act. — The adjective dikaios in Greek is 
the epithet used to express the idea of being right in relation 
to the law. The verb dikaioo, translated "justify," expresses 
the idea of placing one in the position implied in the ad- 
jective dikaios. Whether in a particular case it is used in 
the moral sense of "making righteous " or in the forensic 
sense " of pronouncing righteous," must be determined by 
the context and the usus loquendi of the writer. It is 
clear that it is used in the latter sense in the New Testa- 
ment. 

(a) For if it were used in the moral sense, it would be 
possible to substitute the word "sanctify" for "justify" 
without destroying the sense. This cannot be done, how- 
ever, as any one who will make the experiment will find. 

(6) The judicial meaning of justification is apparent 
from Paul's argument in the Epistle to the Romans. His 
theme is our relation to the law of God. All have sinned, 
all are under condemnation. By the deeds of the law there 
is no justification. Justification is an act of God — an act 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 271 

done without regard to our works — an act of grace on the 
ground of the propitiation of Christ — an act of deliverance 
from condemnation. See Rom. iii. 19-26. 

(c) Justification does not mean a making holy, for the 
Scriptures distinguish between justification and sanctifica- 
tion. 1 Cor. vi. 11. 

(d) Paul speaks of David's describing the blessedness 
of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness without 
works. Rom. iv. 6. The context shows that " imputing 
righteousness without works " is the equivalent of justifica- 
tion. Imputing righteousness without works does not mean 
transformation of character. Neither, therefore, does justi- 
fication : both are forensic forms of expression. 

(e) The word "justify " is used as the opposite of " con- 
demn." Rom. viii. 33, 34 : " It is God that justifieth ; who 
is he that condemneth ?" To condemn is not to make sin- 
ful ; to justify is not to make holy. 

2. More than Pardon. — Arminians, as we have said, 
regard justification as synonymous with pardon.* But in 
this they err. 

(a) Because the word dikaioo does not mean "to par- 
don," and cannot be so translated. 

(b) It is fair to suppose that if Paul had meant " par- 
don " where he says "justified," he would have said that 
we are pardoned by faith, pardoned without works, and that 
being pardoned we have peace with God ; but he did not. 

(c) The word dikaioo means to pronounce righteous.*}* 
Pardon is therefore included in the justification of a sinner, 
since he cannot be pronounced righteous in the sight of the 

* Justification is a " remission of sins," " a sentence of pardon." 
— Watson's Institutes, Part II., chap. 23. 

The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon^ the forgive- 
ness of sins. — Wesley's Works, vol. i., p. 47. 

f Vide Cremer, Biblico- Theological Lexicon of New Testament 
Greek. 



272 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

law so long as he is under condemnation. He may be 
pardoned, however, without being pronounced righteous. 

(d) The effects of j ustification are such as would not 
follow pardon. It is one thing to remit a penalty, and an- 
other thing to receive into favor and to give entrance into 
eternal life. Suppose that God should pardon a man, and 
leave the acceptance of him and his title to heaven to 
depend on his subsequent behavior. Would pardon bring 
peace? Could he feel that he was reconciled to God? 
Could he have any assurance of salvation ? No. And if 
justification is the equivalent of pardon, how does it happen 
that the justified person has " peace with God," is "recon- 
ciled to God," " hath eternal life," " is persuaded that noth- 
ing shall separate him from the love of God," " is accepted 
in the beloved " ? The effects ascribed to justification can be 
explained only on the supposition that justification effects a 
permanent, unalterable change in our legal condition, and 
that it includes not only the pardon of our sins, but the 
acceptance of us as righteous in the sight of God. 

II. The Ground of Justification. 

What is that to which God has regard when he justifies 
us ? Is it something within us or something without us ? 
Is the ground of our justification subjective or objective f 
The opinions which are entertained on this subject may be 
grouped under these heads. 

1. Subjective. — If God pronounces men righteous, it 
must be on the ground of an inherent or a vicarious right- 
eousness. In the controversy between the Romanists and 
the Reformers this fact was recognized, the Romanists affirm- 
ing that we are justified on the ground of an inherent or 
infused righteousness. According to their scheme, the vica- 
rious sacrifice of Christ procures for us the taking away of 
original sin and the infusion of righteousness. This takes 
place in baptism, which is the instrumental cause. And it 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 273 

is to this remission of sin and renewal of nature that they 
give the name justification. When asked, however, on 
what ground God justifies the sinner, the answer is : On the 
ground of inherent or infused righteousness received in 
baptism. 

The ground of justification according to the older Ar- 
minians was faith, and faith included or was synonymous 
with evangelical obedience. They believed that the atone- 
ment of Christ had the effect of lowering the requirements 
of the law, and that God, instead of requiring of us full 
obedience to the Adamic law, was pleased to count our 
faith — that is to say, evangelical obedience — in the room 
of righteousness. 

The Socinian doctrine of justification proceeds upon the 
idea that God is a Father. It ignores the obligations of 
God's law, and denies therefore the divinity of Christ's 
person and the expiatory nature of his work. It reduces the 
gospel to the simple statement that God forgives on the 
ground of our faith and repentance. 

2. Objective. — Those who hold the subjective view as 
to the ground of justification agree in the opinion that when 
God pardons a sinner it is the state of the sinner's mind to 
which He has respect. In other words, that it is on the 
ground of something in the sinner himself. The objective 
view is the opposite of this. Those who hold it maintain 
that we are justified on the ground of what Christ has. 
done, and not on the ground of what we do. 

The Wesleyan Arminians belong to this class. Justifica- 
tion is defined by them to be pardon ; and pardon, they are 
careful to say, is on the ground of the righteousness of Christ.* 
It is true that our subsequent acceptance with God and our 
title to heaven is, according to them, based on our evan- 
gelical obedience or obedience of faith. But the pardon of 
our sins they strenuously affirm to be on the ground of the 

* " Watson's Institutes," Part II., chap. 23, 



274 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

righteousness of Christ. The doctrine of the Reformed con- 
fessions, our own among them, is that we are justified on the 
ground of the imputed righteousness of Christ. The 
Shorter Catechism says that "Justification is an act of 
God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and ac- 
cepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness 
of Christ imputed to us." That is to say, God regards 
Christ as the substitute of his people, both in his active 
and in his passive obedience. His death is their death, his 
righteousness their righteousness. When God pronounces 
men righteous, it is not because of anything in them, but on 
the ground of Christ's righteousness which he imputes to 
them. That this is the scriptural view is proved by the fol- 
lowing considerations. 

(a) To justify is to pronounce righteous. A perfect 
righteousness, therefore, must be the ground of justification. 
And since we have no righteousness of our own which will 
meet the requirements of the law, that to which God has 
regard in our justification must be a vicarious righteous- 
ness. 

(6) The statement that Abraham's faith was counted 
unto him for righteousness does not mean that he was justi- 
fied on the ground of his faith, nor does it sanction the doc- 
trine that our faith or evangelical obedience is taken in lieu 
of a perfect obedience as the ground of our justification. 
For it is in the nature of the case absurd to say that God re- 
gards us as righteous on the ground of conduct which is un- 
righteous. Nor will it do to say that the demands of the 
law are lowered through the work of Christ. For while the 
Scriptures represent Christians as being delivered from the^ 
law, they never represent the law itself as the subject of any 
change. We have peace with God because the demands of 
the law have been met, and not because its behests have 
been made easier, If the law has been lowered at all, to 
what extent has it been lowered? And if our justification 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 275 

depends on our obedience, what is the measure of obedience 
necessary ? and how shall we know when we have attained 
it ? And until we know, what is the ground of our peace ? 
Besides, this view, as Dr. Hodge says, " is dishonoring to the 
gospel. It supposes the gospel to be less holy than the law. 
The law requires perfect obedience; the gospel is satisfied 
wdth imperfect obedience." * " Do we then make void the 
law through faith ? God forbid ; yea, we establish the law." 
3. It is distinctly stated that we are justified by faith 
without the works of the law, and that by the deeds of the 
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Both in 
the Epistle to the Romans and in that to the Galatians 
Paul argues that justification is not on the ground of any- 
thing which we can do, but on the ground of what Christ 
has done for us. 

. 4. The doctrine of our Catechism is necessarily involved 
in the vicarious character of Christ's work. If Christ died, 
"the just for the unjust, that he might reconcile us to God," 
if he came " to give his life a ransom for (in the place of) 
many," if he was " made sin for us," if he was " made a 
curse for us," — in a word, if the death of Christ was penal 
and vicarious, as the Scriptures abundantly teach, then it 
would follow that when God justifies the ungodly he has 
regard to the work which Christ has done in our room and 
stead. 

5. But the doctrine of the Catechism is sustained by the 
direct testimony of Scripture. We are " justified by his 
blood." Bom. v. 9. God hath set him forth " to be a pro- 
pitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteous- 
ness for the remission of sins that are past through the for- 
bearance of God, . . . that he might be just, and the jus- 
tifier of him that believeth in Jesus." Rom. iii. 25, 26. 
" Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon 
all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of 

* " Systematic Theology," vol. iii., p. 169. 



276 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life. 
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, 
so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." 
Horn, v. 18, 19. 

Paul, in the tenth chapter of Romans, complains of his 
brethren because they seek to be justified by their own 
righteousness : " For they being ignorant of God's right- 
eousness, and going about to establish their own righteous- 
ness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness 
of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness 
to every one that believeth." He speaks of the blessedness 
of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness without 
works (Rom iv. 6), and in Philippians he expresses his desire 
to "be found in him, not having mine own righteousness 
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of 
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." 

To the question with which this chapter opens we reply 
by saying that we enter heaven on the ground of the im- 
puted righteousness of Christ. 

" Slain in the guilty sinner's stead, 
His spotless righteousness I plead, 

And his availing blood ; 
Thy merit, Lord, my robe shall be, 
Thy merit shall atone for me, 
And bring me near to God." 

III. The Means of Justification. 

We are justified by faith. All Christians will accept 
this statement. All will not say, however, that we are 
justified by faith alone, nor would all give the same answer 
to the question, How does faith justify ? These points must 
now be noticed. 

1. Justification by faith alone. 

The Bible says we are justified by faith. Are we justi- 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 277 

fied by anything else ? Is anything in addition to faith 
necessary in order to justification ? 

Our catechism says that we are justified by the " righteous- 
ness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone." 
This is the doctrine of the Bible. Paul says that we are 
justified by faith without the works of the law ; that by the 
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. By works he 
does not mean the ceremonial law or works done before re- 
generation. His doctrine is that Jew and Gentile are alike 
•under condemnation because they have violated the law of 
God, and that, being under condemnation, they can do noth- 
ing to justify themselves ; for the law requires a perfect 
obedience, and this they cannot render. In excluding works 
from justification he excludes everything which we can do. 
He excludes faith itself so far as it is a work and lays 
claim to merit. We are not justified by works : we are 
justified by faith. There is no discrepancy between Paul 
and James, though the latter says that Abraham was jus- 
tified by works, and adds, " Ye see, then, how that by works 
a man is justified, and not by faith only/' Because (a) 
James is showing the relation of works to faith, and is 
not discussing the question of justification. Saving faith is 
followed by good works ; where these are wanting faith is 
dead. (6) James cannot mean that Abraham was pardoned 
and accepted when he offered Isaac his son, for he had been 
pardoned and accepted long before.* 

2. Relation of faith to justification. 

Men may use the same language and mean very different 
things. This is illustrated in the matter before us. The 
Romanist believes that we are justified by faith.* But what 
does he mean ? He has two faiths and two justifications. 
In his first justification original sin is removed and right- 
eousness infused. This takes place in baptism. He believes 

* See Cunningham's u Historical Theology/' vol. ii., p. 66 ; " Bu- 
chanan on Justification," pp. 239-249. 
24 



278 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

that he ought to be baptized ; and that being baptized, he is 
justified. In this sense he is justified by faith as a pre- 
disponent to justification. This faith is only intellectual 
assent, fides informis. In his second justification he receives 
title to eternal life, and on the ground of his " works " — 
that is to say, of his character. Prominent among these 
" works " is " faith." But the word faith as now employed 
does not mean intellectual assent. It is synonymous with 
love. This is fides formata* 

The older Arminians believed that we are justified on ac- 
count of our faith. Faith they considered as synonymous 
with evangelical obedience, and was regarded by them as 
imputed to us in the room of righteousness. Wesleyan 
Arminians say that we are justified — meaning pardoned — on 
condition of faith. 

Those who hold the moral-influence theory of the atone- 
ment believe that we are justified by faith ; but justification 
means personal holiness, and faith justifies because it stim- 
ulates to Christian activity. Faith is the secret of success. 
Have faith in a cause if you wish to conquer. Faith saves, 
because by it we overcome sin. The principle is true, but 
the adoption of it as an explanation of the gospel is a funda- 
mental error. In opposition to these views our standards 
teach that " faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not 
because of those other graces which do always accompany 
it, or of good works that are the fruit of it ; nor as if the 
grace of faith or any act thereof were imputed to him for 
justification; but only as it is an instrument by which he 
receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness." — > 
Larger Catechism, Q. 73. 

* Hodge, " Systematic Theology," vol. iii., p. 165. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE, 279 

IV. The Effect of Justification. 

From what has been said respecting the nature and the 
ground of justification it will be easy to infer what opinions 
are entertained respecting the effect of justification. The 
Roman Catholic believes that the justification which he re- 
ceives in baptism places him in the condition which Adam 
occupied before the fall. It does not secure his continuance 
in that state, how 7 ever. His post-baptismal sins render him 
liable to eternal death if mortal, and to the fires of purgatory 
if venial. To escape eternal death and to mitigate the pun- 
ishments of purgatory, it is necessary for him to make 
proper satisfaction in this life. It is a doctrine of the 
Church of Rome that a man may exceed the amount of 
praying, fasting and almsgiving requisite as a satisfaction 
for his own sins, and thus have something over which may 
be used for the benefit of others. The Church of Rome 
made merchandise of this excess in the iniquitous system 
of indulgences, the exposure of which led to the Reforma- 
tion. The Arminians believe that justification is pardon, 
but that it secures no permanent change in our condition, 
and gives no title to heaven. Our acceptance depends on 
our persevering to the end, and our salvation will be the 
reward of our obedience.* 

The doctrine of the Reformed or Calvinistic churches is 
that justification is a permanent change of legal condition. 
The justified person is no longer subject to condemnation. 
He is saved. He hath eternal life. This is one effect of 
justification. And, moreover, justification is always fol- 
lowed by sanctification. Hence the Reformers, when they 

* "In asserting salvation by faith we mean this: (1) That pardon 
(salvation begun) is received by faith producing works. (2) That 
holiness (salvation continued) is faith working by love. (3) That 
heaven (salvation finished) is the reward of this faith." — Wesley's 
11 Works," vol. v., p. 205. 



280 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

affirmed that we are justified by faith alone, were careful to 
say that the faith which justifies was never by itself. It 
was a fides sola, not a fides solitaria. Good works are the 
evidence and the effect of saving faith. This must be so ; 
for w T e know that without holiness no man shall see the 
Lord ; and we know too that whom he justifies, them he 
also glorifies. 



LESSON VIII. 
KEGENEKATION. 



What is faith ? Belief. But belief is assent when it 
terminates on a proposition and trust when it terminates on 
a person. I assent to the doctrine of plenary inspiration ; 
I trust in Christ. The Romanists, regarding faith as assent, 
were in the habit of charging the Reformers with believing 
that men are saved by bare intellectual assent. The latter, 
however, maintained that saving faith included trust asw T ell 
as assent ; and this is the doctrine of our standards. From 
this definition of faith the necessity of both the external 
and the internal call may be inferred. The external call is 
necessary to faith. For says the apostle, " How shall they 
believe in him of whom they have not heard ?" The gos- 
pel must be preached and the offer of salvation must be 
made before men can believe. But is the presentation 
of the truth through the Word sufficient ? Are men will- 
ing to accept Christ as their Saviour even although the 
claims of the gospel are pressed upon their attention? We 
have found that men are " indisposed, disabled, made oppo- 
site to all good and wholly inclined to all evil." This is 
their condition by nature. While they remain in this con- 
dition can they exercise faith? Can they rest on Christ 
alone for salvation? Sin, we found, has produced two 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 281 

great results. It has made man guilty. A scheme of sal- 
vation must therefore provide for his deliverance from con- 
demnation. We have seen how this was done. But sin 
has likewise debased our nature ; it has caused spiritual 
death. A scheme of salvation must provide also for our 
change of nature. This moral change is necessary in order 
that we may avail ourselves of the remedy provided for our 
legal liabilities. For to be justified we must have faith, 
But there is a barrier to the exercise of faith — to wit : that 
we are spiritually dead. Now, it is the work of the Spirit 
to effect the moral change whereby we are persuaded and 
enabled to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the 
gospel. This change he accomplishes in " effectual calling," 
and the result itself is termed regeneration. We are to 
consider regeneration first as to its nature and secondly as 
to its mode. 

I. Nature of Eegeneration. 
It is an instantaneous, radical and permanent change in 
the moral nature, in virtue of which the subject is said to 
be born again, to be a new creature, to be raised from the 
dead. It is instantaneous, for it is a transition from death 
to life ; it is radical for the same reason ; it is permanent, 
for the life imparted in regeneration is immortal. Whom 
he calls he justifies, whom he justifies he glorifies. The 
change affects the whole soul. The mind is enlightened in 
the knowledge of Christ, the will is renewed, and we are 
persuaded and enabled to embrace Jesus Christ freely of- 
fered to us in the gospel. It follows, from the nature of the 
case, that the soul is passive in regeneration. A dead man 
cannot be instrumental in his own resurrection. The soul 
is regenerated ; it never regenerates itself. We are com- 
manded to repent, but not to be regenerated. Kegenera- 
tion is necessary to salvation, but it is not a duty. This 
view of regeneration is proved — 

24* 



282 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

1. From the doctrine of total depravity. If it is true, 
this follows of necessity. 

2. This is taught in the second chapter of Ephesians, 
where spiritual life, as the antithesis of spiritual death, is at- 
tributed to divine power : " But God, who is rich in mercy, 
for his great love wherewith he hath loved us when we were 
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by 
grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and 
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 

3. It is involved in other statements of Scripture : We 
must be born again. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature." " We are his workmanship." It follows, there- 
fore — 

(a) That regeneration is not a change of external relation. 
This was Archbishop Whately's view, and it is the view of 
others in the Church of England, who understand baptismal 
regeneration to mean nothing more than that in the sacra- 
ment of baptism the subject becomes externally related to 
the Church. 

(b) It is not a change of purpose, as theologians of the 
New Haven school suppose ; for the "purpose" presupposes 
the moral change in which regeneration consists. 

(c) It is not moral reformation. Birth is different from 
growth. Resurrection is different from the life which fol- 
lows it. Spiritual growth follows regeneration, but regen- 
eration is the word which expresses the change from death 
to life. 

(d) Nor is regeneration the same as conversion. The 
regenerated person turns to God — i. e., is converted. The 
soul is active in conversion, passive in regeneration. Con- 
version is the fruit of regeneration. 

II. The Mode of Regeneration. 
The agent in regeneration is the third Person of the bless- 
ed and adorable Trinity. " The wind bloweth where it list- 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 283 

eth and thou nearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So is every one that 
is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8. " Not by works of right- 
eousness which we have done, but according to his mercy 
he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing 
of the Holy Ghost." Tit. iii. 4, 5. 

The doctrine is stated by the Confession of Faith in the 
following terms : " All those whom God hath predestinated 
unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and 
accepted time, effectually to call by his word and Spirit out 
of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, 
to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ ; enlightening their 
minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things 
of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto 
them an heart of flesh ; renewing their wills, and by his 
almighty power determining them to that which is good, 
and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ ; yet so as 
they come most freely, being made willing by his grace. 
This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, 
not from anything at all foreseen in man, who is altogether 
passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the 
Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and 
to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it." — Con- 
fession of Faith, chap, x., § 1, 2. 

The agency of the Spirit in regeneration is immediate, 
sovereign and efficacious. 

1. Immediate. — The change wrought in regeneration is 
through the direct exercise of divine power. Lutherans 
dispute this proposition. They do not believe in the oper- 
ation of the Spirit except through the Word. They hold 
that there is virtue in the Word which, if not resisted, will 
result in the conversion of those to whom it is preached. 
This, however, cannot be the true state of the case, for the 
objective presentation of the truth to a man spiritually 
dead is surely not sufficient. Eesides, the Scriptures dis- 



284 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

tinctly say that it is not sufficient, for they affirm that 
" the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of 
God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned." 1 Cor. ii. 14. The Scriptures distinguish, more- 
over, between the influence of the Spirit and that of the 
Word. " Who, then, is Paul, and who is Apollos, but min- 
isters by whom ye have believed, even as the Lord gave to 
every man ? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God 
gave the increase." 1 Cor. iii. 5, 6. That the influence of 
the Spirit in regeneration is by direct agency, and not 
through the moral influence of the truth, is seen in passages 
like the following : " For it is God that worketh in you 
both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. ii. 13. 
" In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves ; 
if God peradventure will give them repentance to the 
acknowledging of the truth." 2 Tim. ii. 25. 

2. Sovereign. — Regeneration is a sovereign act of God's 
Spirit, who works when and where he pleases. It is not on 
the ground of anything that a man does, or that God fore- 
sees he will do, that he regenerates him. Komanists, and 
those who hold high sacramentarian views, maintain that 
baptism is necessary to regeneration. This dogma is both 
extra-scriptural and unscriptural, however. The Bible 
does not teach baptismal regeneration, but it teaches the 
contrary. Baptism, we know, does not secure salvation ; 
regeneration does. Whom he calls (regenerates) he justi- 
fies, whom he justifies he glorifies. The salvation of infants 
is not jeoparded by neglect of baptism. But "elect in- 
fants, dying in infancy" (and we believe that all infants 
dying in infancy are elect), "are regenerated and saved 
by Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when and where 
and how he pleaseth." — Confession of Faith, chap, x., § 3. 

3. Efficacious. — Regeneration is the result of a direct 
exercise of divine power. The soul is passive. There can 
be no co-working in regeneration. This view is opposed by 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 285 

those who hold Semi-Pelagian views respecting sin, and who 
maintain that the work of the Spirit in regeneration con- 
sists in moral suasion. The best way to reply to this view 
is to prove the doctrine of original sin. A dead man is not 
in a position to be influenced by moral suasion. Besides, it 
is strange that the Scriptures should say that we are created 
in Christ Jesus unto good works, that we are born of the 
Spirit, and that we are raised from the dead, if they meant 
only to teach that the Spirit presents arguments and motives 
for our consideration. The Arminians believe in total de- 
pravity, but maintain that the Spirit of God is present 
with every man, granting him sufficient grace to enable him 
to attain eternal life, and that the difference between a be- 
liever and an unbeliever fe that one co-operates, and the 
other does not co-operate, with the Spirit of God. To 
which it is enough to reply that if men are dead they cannot 
co-operate, and if they are alive they need not co-operate, 
for they are already regenerated. 

Regeneration is God's act ; conversion is man's. Con- 
version follows regeneration, and is evidenced by faith and 
repentance. 

"Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we 
receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is 
offered to us in the gospel." 

" Repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sin- 
ner, out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the 
mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of sin, 
turn from it unto God, with full purpose of and endeavor 
after new obedience." * 

* "Shorter Catechism/' Q. 86, 87. 



286 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

LESSON IX. 

ELECTION. 

To be saved we must be justified ; to be justified we must 
believe ; to believe we must be regenerated. God regener- 
ates. All regenerated persons are saved. Those who die 
unregenerated perish. Thus we are led to a consideration 
of the doctrine of election. On this subject two contra- 
dictory opinions are entertained. Calvinists affirm, Ar- 
minians deny, that God for his own glory has from all 
eternity elected some to everlasting life. Every man who 
has an opinion on this subject must be, at least so far as 
this doctrine is concerned, an A*minian or a Calvinist.* 

I. Arminian View. 

Arminians agree in saying that the Bible speaks of an 
electiou of some sort. They agree in saying that it does 
not teach the doctrine of a sovereign election of individuals 
to eternal life. But they are not agreed in respect to what 
the Bible doctrine of election is. They fall into two 
classes. 

1. Those who maintain that the election spoken of in 
the Bible is an election to the external privileges of the 
Church. God, they say, has shed gospel light on some 
parts of the world and kept the remainder in darkness. He 
has elected some to the enjoyment of Christian privileges, 
while others are in a state of heathenism. This election 
does not secure salvation, though it confers great advan- 
tages on those who are the subjects of it.f But it is very 

* For a full discussion of this point, see Principal Cunningham's 
masterly essay on Calvinism and Arminianism in his " Reformers 
and Theology of the Reformation." 

f " So, also, we may conclude no Christian is elected to eternal 
salvation absolutely, but only to the knowledge of the gospel, to the 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 287 

clear that the election spoken of in the Bible is an election 
which secures salvation. Whom God predestinates he calls, 
whom he calls he justifies, whom he justifies he glorifies. 
It is an election of those " whom he had afore prepared 
unto glory," "whom he had chosen, that they should be 
holy and without blame," of those whom he had " predes- 
tinated to be conformed to the image of his Son." This the- 
ory of election does not explain the facts, and therefore 
falls to the ground. 

2. Those who maintain that God elects to everlasting 
life those who, he foresees, will repent and believe in Christ. 
But this view is equally unsatisfactory ; for so far from 
our election proceeding on the ground of a foreseen faith, 
faith itself is the gift of God. God does not elect us be- 
cause he foresees that we shall repent and persevere in holi- 
ness, inasmuch as the reason that we have repented is that 
he " hath granted " unto us " repentance unto life ;" and the 
reason that we persevere is that we are " created in Christ 
Jesus unto good works." Election is not on the ground of 
a foreseen faith, but on account of God's good pleasure, 
" who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not 
according to works, but according to his own purpose and 
grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world 
began." 2 Tim. i. 9. 

II. Calvinistic View. 

The Calvinistic doctrine assumes three forms. 

1. Stjpralapsarian. — According to this view, the decree 
of election takes precedence of the decree of creation. 
Out of the mass of creatable men God elects some and 
reprobates others for his own glory. To carry out this 

privileges of the Christian Church, to the offer of God's Holy 
Spirit, and to the promise of final salvation on condition of being a 
faithful follower of Christ." — Whately's " Essay on Certain Difficul- 
ties in the Writings of St. Paul." 



288 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

decree he created man and permitted him to fall. This 
view is not commonly entertained. It presents metaphys- 
ical difficulties to begin with.* It is unsupported by the 
word of God, and contrary to it. It requires us to believe 
that God has reprobated some of the human race without 
regard to their sins, whereas the Scriptures teach that, 
while God saves some out of his mere good pleasure, those 
who are passed by are punished on account of their sins. 

2. Sublapsariax. — The advocates of this view main- 
tain that the decree of election contemplates man as fallen. 
Out of the mass of fallen humanity God has predestinated 
some, they say, to eternal life. This is the doctrine of our 
standards, and, we believe, of the Scriptures. " God hav- 
ing, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity 
elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant 
of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and 
misery, and to bring them into a state of salvation by a 
Redeemer." f 

3. Infralapsarian. — This is the view which was ad- 
vocated by the French Protestant theologians at Saumur 
" during the second quarter of the seventeenth century." 
It contemplates man not only as created and fallen, but as 
redeemed. Its advocates say that God decreed to create 
man ; to permit the fall ; to provide a salvation for all men 
through Jesus Christ on condition of faith and repentance ; 
but, foreseeing that none would accept Christ, that he de- 
creed to give faith and repentance to some. This view in- 
volves a denial of the vicarious nature of the atonement, 
and is incompatible with the doctrine that Christ laid down 
his life for his sheep. 

The advocates of these three views agree in affirming 
that election is (1) of individuals, (2) to eternal life, (3) of 
God's mere good pleasure and not on account of a foreseen 

* For a discussion of them, see Turretine, loc. iv., quaest. ix. 
t " Shorter Catechism," Q. 20. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 289 

faith. These are the essential elements in the Calvinistic 
doctrine of election. This doctrine is proved by the fol- 
lowing considerations : * 

1. It follows from the doctrine of regeneration. This is 
obvious. 

2. Faith and repentance are gifts of God, but they are 
necessary to salvation. 

3. It is specifically affirmed in Scripture : " Whom he 
did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to 
the image of his Son," etc. Rom. viii. 29. " According as 
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the 
world, that we should be holy and without blame,' , etc. 
Eph. i. 4. " God hath from the beginning chosen you 
unto salvation," etc. 2 Thess. xi. 13. 

4. It is proved by the objection which Paul answers in 
the ninth chapter of Romans. The most common objection 
to this doctrine is that it destroys responsibility. This is 
precisely the one which Paul anticipates : " Thou wilt say 
then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath 
resisted his will ? Nay, but, O man, who art thou that 
repliest against God ? Shall the thing formed say to him 
that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not 
the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make 
one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? What 
if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power 
known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of 
wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known 
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he 
had afore prepared unto glory ?" 

5. It is involved in the doctrine of decrees. The Con- 
fession of Faith says, chap. iii. : " God from all eternity did 
by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely 
and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass ; yet so 
as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence 
offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or 

25 



290 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

contingency of second causes taken away, but rather estab- 
lished." 

Election is sir%ply part of God's eternal purpose. That 
God's purpose is eternal and that it extends to every event 
the Scriptures clearly teach. God notices the fall of a 
sparrow. He numbers the hairs of our head. He disposes 
of the lot. Every good and perfect gift comes from him. 
He directs our steps. He controls the free acts of men, 
giving faith, granting repentance unto life, working in us 
to will and to do of his good pleasure. The wicked acts of 
men are foreordained and overruled. Christ was delivered 
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. 
Joseph's brethren were carrying out God's purpose when 
they sold him : " God sent me before you to preserve you a 
posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great de- 
liverance." Gen. xlv. 7. He has mercy on whom he will 
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Moreover, 
foreordination is involved in foreknowledge. It is admitted 
by all, except Socinians, that God from all eternity has 
foreknown whatsoever comes to pass. If God has fore- 
known every event, then every event has been fixed and de- 
termined from all eternity. God from all eternity foresaw 
the crucifixion of Christ. The crucifixion was inevitable, 
therefore, and God knew from all eternity that it would 
certainly occur. What made it certain ? There is only 
one answer: It formed part of God's eternal purpose 
" whereby for his own glory he hath foreordained whatsoever 
comes to pass." 

The common objections to this doctrine are — 
1. That it represents God as dealing unjustly. But this 
is not the case. It would have been just for God to have 
left the world to perish in its sins. This must be admit- 
ted if the atonement is believed in. There is no need of 
and no mercy in an atonement if the punishment of sin 
would have been an injustice. But if God might justly 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 291 

have left the whole world to perish, who shall challenge his 
prerogative to have mercy on as many as he pleases ? 

2. It is said to destroy free agency. This must be be- 
cause it makes our actions certain ; but so does foreknow- 
ledge. If certainty is incompatible with free agency, the 
objection is involved against foreordination, as foreknowledge 
is foreordination. Certainty and liberty are not incompat- 
ible. God is free, but it is certain that he will not do wrong. 
Christ was free, but it was certain that he would not sin. 

3. It is said to make the use of means unnecessary. 
Popularly stated : " If I am to be saved, I shall be saved 
no matter what I am ; if I am to be lost, I shall be lost, do 
what I may." The mistake arises out of the fact that God's 
decree embraces every event, that he foreordains the means 
as well as the end. If God decrees the salvation of a soul, 
he decrees that he shall hear, heed and believe the gospel. 
In like manner, if God decrees that there shall be an abun- 
dant harvest, he decrees that the farmer shall prepare the 
soil, sow the seed, and that favorable influences shall com- 
bine to produce the result. 

What practical influence should the doctrine of election 
exert upon the children of God? It should make them 
humble : " By the grace of God we are what we are." It 
should make them grateful, for what have we that we 
have not received? It should make them confident, for 
faith is the pledge that God hath " chosen them unto sal- 
vation/' 

" Why was I made to hear thy voice 
And enter while there's room, 
While thousands make a wretched choice, 
And rather starve than come ? 

"'Twas the same love that spread the feast 
That sweetly forced me in, 
Else I had still refused to taste, 
And perished in my sin." 



292 PREPARING TO TEACH. 



LESSON X. 

SANCTIFICATION. 

Regeneration is related to sanctificatiou as birth is to 
growth. The soul's new life begins at regeneration. Its 
development in spiritual strength and stature is its sancti- 
fication. We are here using the words regeneration and 
sanctification in the subjective sense to denote the state of 
being regenerated and sanctified. They are also used in 
the objective sense to denote the agency or process by 
which we are brought into this state, though the objective 
side of regeneration is expressed in our standards by the 
term " effectual calling." Let us consider sanctification 
first subjectively and then objectively. 

I. Subjectively Considered. 
Sanctification is moral transformation, and is altogether 
different from justification, which is only a change of legal 
condition. At regeneration the Christian begins to lead a 
new life — a better, but not a sinless, life. Though a new 
nature has, so to speak, been grafted upon the soul, the old 
nature is not dead. The fruits of sin and the fruits of the 
Spirit hang side by side. Recovery from disease is not ef- 
fected in a day. The patient is feeble long after all danger 
is past. So with the soul's convalescence. And it has not 
only been sick, but dead — dead in trespasses and sins. 
Sanctification is a gradual change of character; it is a 
putting off of the old man, which is "corrupt, according to 
the deceitful lusts," and a putting on of " the new man, 
which after God is created in righteousness and true holi- 
ness." In regeneration the child of God becomes "a new 
creature," and this becomes more apparent as sanctification 
goes on. He is the subject of new feelings, new pleasures, 
new motives, new aims. " Old things are passed away." 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 293 

His is not so new, however, that he loses his individuality 
or ceases to be himself. Sanctification makes Christians 
like Christ, but does not destroy the differences which dis- 
tinguish one Christian from another.* The agency of the 
Holy Ghost is present in sanctification as in regeneration — 
with this difference, however, that the Christian co-operates 
with the Spirit in sanctification. Sanctification is a duty. 
We are commanded to " grow in grace." The doctrine of 
justification by faith alone is not responsible for neglect of 
personal piety. The Christian is commanded to be holy ; 
and that he may attain holiness he is to be actively en- 
gaged striving against sin. Christian life is a warfare, and 
he is to put on the whole armor of God. It is a race, and 
he is to lay aside every weight. The Christian is both a 
sinner and a saint — a sinner, however great his attainments 
in holiness, and a saint notwithstanding his sins. It is cer- 
tain that while he lives he will not be free from sin ; it is 
just as certain that he will not fall away from grace. But 
we are assuming the truth of doctrines which merit a more 
explicit statement. Three great questions claim attention 
here : Antinomianism, Perfectionism and the Perseverance 
of the Saints. 

1. Antinomianism. — Some have perverted the doc- 
trine of justification by faith, and have held that as they 
are released from the law as the ground of justification 
they are under no obligation to keep it. This does not 
disprove the doctrine, however. Men did the same thing 
in the days of the apostles. The Epistle of James was 
aimed at Antinomian error. Some have said that the 
doctrine of justification by faith belittles conduct, which, as 
Matthew Arnold says, is three-fourths of life. But this 
does not disprove the doctrine. Paul had the same objec- 

* The fig tree, formerly unfruitful, now becomes fruitful ; but the 
rose never becomes the grape, the sanctified Peter never a James or 
a John. — Van Oosterzee's " Christian Dogmatics," vol. ii., p. 658. 

25* 



294 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

tion to meet : " What shall we say then ? Shall we con- 
tinue in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid." Some 
charge upon those who preach the doctrine of justification 
by faith a disregard of holiness as a pre-requisite of heaven, 
and speak boastingly of themselves as the special apostles 
of personal piety. The charge is a slander and the boast a 
mistake. 

The Christian is under the deepest obligation to obey the 
law of God, and is urged by the strongest motives to strive 
after holiness. 

1. This follows from the nature of the law ; it is the ex- 
pression of God's will — a transcript of his nature. It tells 
man what he ought to do. To break that law is to sin, and 
a scheme of salvation which would license sin is inconceiv- 
able. 

2. We are commanded to be holy, to put off the old man 
and put on the new, to give diligence, to add to our faith, 
virtue, etc. Our Saviour prays that his disciples may be 
sanctified, and Paul prays for the Thessalonians that the 
very God of peace would sanctify them wholly. 

3. It is the Christian's nature to live a life of growing 
holiness. He has been delivered from the power of dark- 
ness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. 
He was dead in sin, he is now dead to sin. " How shall we 
who are dead to sin live any longer therein ?" That a man 
should find in justification by faith an apology for moral 
laxity w T ould be convincing proof that he had never been 
born again. 

4. It is distinctly declared that without holiness no man 
shall see the Lord. 

5. The Christian is influenced by the motive of gratitude. 
If we are saved by the precious blood of Christ, a life of 
consecration is a very obvious duty. " For we thus judge 
that if one died for all, then were all dead, and that he 
died for all that we who live should not henceforth live 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 295 

unto ourselves, but unto him who died for us and rose 
again." 

6. And he is influenced by another motive ; for while we 
are not saved on account of our works, we are judged by 
our works. In no sense are men saved by w r orks. They 
enter heaven only on the ground of the imputed righteous- 
ness of Christ. But they are rewarded with higher or 
lower degrees of blessedness according to their conduct here : 
" For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ 
that every one may receive the things done in the body 
according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad." 
1 Cor. v. 10. 

2. Perfectionism. — We ought to be like Christ ; this 
is the Christian's aim. We are to be like Christ ; this is 
the Christian's hope. But perfection is not attainable in 
this life : " No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life 
perfectly to keep the commandments of God ; but doth 
daily break them in thought, word and deed." 

The proof of this is found — 

1. In the experience of Paul. In the seventh chapter of 
Eomans he says : " I delight in the law of God, after the 
inward man ; but I see another law in my members warring 
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity 
to the law of sin, which is in my members." In the Epistle 
to the Philippians he says : " Not as though I had already 
attained, either were already perfect ; but I follow after, if 
that I may apprehend that for which I also am apprehend- 
ed of Christ Jesus." Paul's humility makes the claim of 
perfection on the part of a Christian seem like presumption. 

2. We read : " If we say we have no sin, we deceive 
ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John i. 8. 

3. Our Lord gave his disciples a model for prayer, and it 
contains the petition, " Forgive us our debts as we forgive 
our debtors." The perfect Christian, however, cannot offer 
that prayer. 



296 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

4. Christian experience is opposed to the doctrine. Does 
any Christian suppose that he is as like Christ as he will 
be ? Is there a man living who for a moment supposes 
that all his thoughts, words and actions conform to the law 
of God ? The truth is that if by sin is meant "any want 
of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God," and 
if by the law of God is understood the law given to Adam, 
there is not a perfectionist in the world. Perfectionist 
theories are based on false views of sin or false views of the 
law. Let it be shown that the law by which we are bound 
is the moral law as it was given to Adam without abate- 
ment or change, let it be shown that sin is any want of con- 
formity unto as well as transgression of this law, and Per- 
fectionism becomes transparently absurd. 

3. Perseverance of the Saints. — The angels rejoice 
over the sinner's repentance. They are not disappointed. 
The sinner who once accepts Christ in a living faith never 
forsakes him. Spiritual life may languish, but it never 
dies. 

On this point Calvinists and Arminians hold opposite 
opinions. The Calvinistic position is well stated in our 
Confession of Faith : " They whom God hath accepted in 
his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, 
can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of 
grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and 
be eternally saved." This is the doctrine of the Bible. 

1. It follows from the statements which teach a present 
salvation. " He that believeth hath eternal life." " We 
have passed from death unto life." " There is now no con- 
demnation." These statements could not be made regard- 
ing Christians if their ultimate salvation were uncertain. 

2. We read that whom he " calls he justifies, and whom 
he justifies he glorifies." Every Christian is therefore sure 
of glory. 

3. The Bible says that he who believes shall be saved. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 297 

It also says : " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 
This doctrine harmonizes these passages, as it teaches that 
every believer will persevere in holiness. 

4. The doctrine of Perseverance is necessary to account 
for the strong language of confidence employed by the apos- 
tle Paul : " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness ;" " I know whom I have believed," etc. ; " I 
am persuaded that nothing shall separate me from the love 
of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord." Paul was not 
self-righteous or self-confident. His assurance was based on 
the evidence that God had chosen him to obtain salvation. 

5. It follows of necessity from the doctrine of election. 
God has chosen some to everlasting life. He has chosen 
them to salvation through faith. Faith is the fruit of re- 
generation, and regeneration is the proof of election. A 
living faith is a guarantee of election. This is necessarily 
so, for all who believe are saved ; but none are saved who 
are not elected. Therefore all who believe are elected. 
Hence those who are regenerated never die. "The gifts 
and calling of God are without repentance." They are not 
revoked. 

6. The Scriptures affirm the doctrine : " I will give unto 
them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall 
any man pluck them out of my hand." John x. 28. " He 
who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until 
the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. i. 6. 

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is very 
precious and very comforting to the child of God, but it 
does not encourage indolence or pride. Along with this 
doctrine comes the exhortation to "give diligence to make 
your calling and election sure," and the caution, " Let him 
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Nor is it 
by any inherent strength that he resists temptation and 
perseveres in a holy life. He is kept by the power of 
God through faith unto salvation, 



298 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

II. Objectively Considered. 
Our catechism says that sanctification is a work of God's 
free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after 
the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die 
unto sin and to live unto righteousness. 

1. It is effected by divine agency. This is the uniform 
testimony of Scripture. The Father sanctifies, the Son 
sanctifies, the Spirit sanctifies. 1 Thess. v. 23; Heb. xiii. 
20, 21 ; Tit. ii. 14 ; Eph. v. 25. But it is especially attributed 
to the third person of the Trinity. In the work of redemp- 
tion each person of the Trinity is especially concerned. 
The Father loved us, and sent his Son ; the Son loved us, 
and died to expiate our guilt; the Spirit loved us, and 
made his abode in us, taking of the things that are Christ's 
and showing them to us. To his gracious influence the 
Christian owes not only the new birth, but growth in grace. 
Our growth in grace is a very different thing from moral 
reformation. It is not by culture, development or building 
up of manhood that souls grow in grace. The preachiug 
which fails to recognize the agency of the Holy Ghost is 
not the preaching of the gospel, however fully and eloquently 
it may urge upon men a life and conversation becoming the 
gospel. 

2. It is a work. 

It is to the continued presence of God's Spirit that 
Christians are indebted for their advances in holiness. We 
are in Christ, and being in him derive spiritual sustenance : 
" As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide 
in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me." And^ 
being united to Christ the Spirit abides with us, and our 
bodies are made the temples of the living God. The Holy 
Ghost does not remove all trace of sin when he regenerates 
us, as Roman Catholics teach. Hence regeneration is only 
the beginning of a process which ends in complete sanctifica- 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 299 

tion. Nor does he implant a germ of holiness and leave it to 
fight its way against opposing influences. It is by no in- 
herent vitality that the soul perseveres in a holy life. We 
need the sanctifying and reviving influences of the Spirit of 
God. In times of spiritual declension we pray, " O Lord, 
revive thy work." At all times we pray, "Lord, increase 
our faith." 

3. The Spirit works through means. Our Saviour prayed, 
" Sanctify them through thy truth : thy word is truth." 
Hence sanctification is a duty, and we are responsible for 
the use we make of the means of grace. The outward and 
ordinary means are the word, sacraments and prayer. 



LESSON XL 
THE MEANS OF GKACE. 

"When our Lord had raised the maiden from the dead, 
" he commanded that something be given her to eat." This 
illustrates the difference between regeneration and sanctifi- 
cation. Spiritual food will not impart life to a dead soul, 
though it will nourish and strengthen one already quick- 
ened. New life is due to the direct exercise of divine effi- 
ciency, but growth in grace results from spiritual nourish- 
ment. In regeneration the Spirit works immediately; in 
sanctification he works through means. Hence the apostle 
says : " Desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may 
grow thereby." Holiness is a duty. Without it no man 
shall see the Lord. Hence, in addition to faith in Jesus 
Christ and repentance unto life, God requireth of us a " dil- 
igent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communi- 
cateth to us the benefits of redemption." These outward 
means are God's ordinances, especially the word, sacraments 
and prayer. 



300 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

I. The Word. 
By the word is meant the Bible. It is the rule of duty. 
All questions, both of creed and conduct, are to be deter- 
mined by it. To know what is true we are not to go to 
church councils, creeds or catechisms, but to the Bible. To 
know what is right we are not to consult private opinion or 
public sentiment, but the Bible. It is given by inspiration 
of God, and is therefore "profitable for doctrine, for re- 
proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Do 
we desire to learn the way of God more perfectly ? Then 
the Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salva- 
tion. Are we in heaviness through manifold temptations? 
Then let us consider Him who endured such contradiction 
of sinners against himself. Are we faint-hearted ? Let us 
turn to the promises. Are we growing cold and formal in 
the service of Christ? Then the Epistles of Peter should 
stir us up by putting us in remembrance. Have we to do 
battle against the enemy of souls ? Then let us wield the 
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The Bible 
reflects God's glory ; and beholding in it as in a glass the 
glory of God, we are changed into the same image from 
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. The 
word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any 
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of 
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a dis- 
cern er of the thoughts and intents of the heart. How is 
the sanctifying influence of the word accounted for ? There 
are three answers to this question. 

1. Some say that the influence which the Bible exerts is 
only the natural result of the presentation of moral truth to 
the mind. 

2. Lutherans say that there is an inherent virtue in the 
word which, if not resisted, produces blessed results in those 
to whom it is presented. Its influence is not due to the nat- 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 301 

ural force of truth, but to the Spirit of God working in and 
with it. 

3. The Reformed doctrine is different from both the fore- 
going views. The first view is not correct, inasmuch as the 
presentation of the truth to the mind does not enable a man 
to understand the truth, nor does it open his heart to the 
reception of it. This is the work of the Spirit. The 
second view is not correct, because it denies the personal 
agency of the Spirit as separate and distinct from the word. 
The doctrine of the Bible is that the word sanctifies by be- 
ing made efficacious through the Spirit. The word may be 
presented without the attending influence of the Spirit, for 
it acts by no inherent power, and the Spirit works when and 
where he pleases. The word must be attended by the effi- 
cacious influence of the Spirit, or it is preached in vain. 
Hence the necessity of praying for the aid of the Holy 
Ghost in order that we may study the Scriptures with 
profit. Hence, too, the need of praying that God would 
give his word success, and that his Spirit would lead us into 
all truth. 

II. Sacraments. 

Our Lord has enjoined upon his followers the observance 
of two ordinances through which, as well as through the 
word, he is pleased to communicate his grace. These ordi- 
nances are the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Sup- 
per. " A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by 
Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of 
the new covenant are represented, sealed and applied to be- 
lievers."* "The grace which is exhibited in or by the 
sacraments rightly used is not conferred by any power in 
them, neither doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon 
the piety or intention of him that doth administer it, but 
upon the work of the Spirit and the word of institution, 
which contains, together with the precept authorizing the 

* Shorter Catechism, Q. 92. 
26 



302 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers."* 
These statements express the idea of the sacraments enter- 
tained by the Eeformed Churches. They are opposed — 

1. To the Roman Catholic doctrine. The Church of 
Rome says that the sacraments contain the grace they sig- 
nify, and convey it ex opere operato. As food has power to 
support life, so baptism regenerates and the eucharist af- 
fords spiritual nourishment without regard to the faith or 
want of faith of those receiving the sacraments. 

2. To the Lutheran view. Lutherans deny the ex opere 
operato doctrine as taught by Romanists. They hold that 
faith is necessary to the efficacy of the sacraments, but they 
hold that when received in faith the sacraments convey 
grace by an inherent virtue, just as they maintain that the 
word sanctifies by an inherent virtue. The doctrine of our 
Church is that both word and sacraments are made effica- 
cious by the work of God's Spirit, and not by any inherent 
power in themselves. 

3. To the Zwinglian view. According to this view, the 
sacraments cannot be properly called means of grace. They 
are only symbolical modes of stating Scripture truth. The 
doctrine of our standards is that the sacraments not only 
represent, but that they seal and exhibit or apply to believers, 
the benefits of Christ's redemption. 

In studying this subject we are to guard against two ex- 
tremes. First, we are to be careful not to undervalue the 
sacraments or ignore the fact that they are channels of 
grace ; secondly, we are to be careful not to regard them as 
channels of every grace, for they are sanctifying, but not 
regenerating, ordinances.f Passing from these remarks on 
the sacraments in general, let us consider each of these or- 
dinances separately. 

* Confession of Faitl\ jap. xxvii., \ 3. 

f "The substance of this matter maybe embodied in these two po- 
sitions: 1. That the Holy Spirit ordinarily employs the sacraments, 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 303 

1. Baptism. — And here we are met by three inquiries : 
1. The idea of baptism ; 2. The subjects of baptism ; 3. 
The mode of baptism. 

1. The idea of baptism. A Hindoo, let us suppose, ap- 
plies to the missionary for baptism. Shall the missionary 
take the ground that baptism is a regenerating ordinance, 
and baptize him without making any inquiry respecting his 
state of mind ? Or shall he take the ground that baptism 
is the ordinance in which a profession of faith in Christ is 
made, and satisfy himself that the person applying for bap- 
tism is a Christian ? If he follows New Testament prece- 
dent, he will adopt the latter course. The case supposed is 
analogous to the instances of baptism recorded in the New 
Testament. In this, and in all other cases of adult bap- 
tism, it is clear, therefore, that baptism presupposes regen- 
eration, and cannot be a regenerating agent. If baptism 
ever regenerates, it must be in the case of infants. But we 
concede freely to the Baptist denomination that the New Tes- 
tament does not give a single unmistakable instance of in- 
fant baptism. Baptismal regeneration is therefore discounte- 
nanced by every instance of baptism recorded in the Bible. 
Its only claim to be regarded as a doctrine of Scripture 
when received by persons duly qualified and rightly prepared, as 
means or instruments of conveying to them clearer views and more 
lively and impressive conceptions of what he has done and revealed 
in his word with respect to the provisions and arrangements of the 
covenant of grace and their special application to men individually. 
And, 2. That the Holy Spirit, acting in accordance with the princi- 
ples and tendencies of our constitution, ordinarily employs the sac- 
raments as means or instruments of increasing and strengthening 
man's faith with reference to all its appropriate objects, and thereby 
of imparting to them in greater abundance, all the spiritual blessings 
which are connected with the lively and vigorous exercise of faith — 
that is, all those subordinate blessings, as in a certain sense they may 
be called, which accompany and flow from justification and regenera- 
tion." — Cunningham's "Beformers and Theology of the Reformation," 
p. 287 ? 



304 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

rests on a few isolated texts of Scripture, and these it can 
be shown will not bear the interpretation which the advo- 
cates of Sacramentarianism put upon them. 

One of these passages is John iii. 5 : " Except a man be 
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God." 

But it is not clear that " born of water " refers to bap- 
tism ; and if it does, it is not clear that " kingdom of God" 
means heaven. Another text is found in Titus iii. 5 : 
" Not by works of righteousness which we* have done, but 
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of re- 
generation and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Here again 
there is good reason to believe that no reference to baptism 
is intended. The probable meaning is : " We are saved by 
that washing which is regeneration, namely, the renewing 
of the Holy Ghost."* 

Baptism, being administered to adults on profession of 
faith, is to them a sign and seal of regeneration, not as 
effecting it, but as witnessing that it has been already effect- 
ed. Regeneration and baptism are in this way closely re- 
lated ideas, and this will explain such passages as the fol- 
lowing : " Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins ;" 
" Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of 
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." 

2. The subjects of baptism. The heathen just referred to 
would be treated in the same way by a Presbyterian or a 
Baptist missionary. Neither would baptize him except on 
a credible profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
as the cases of adult baptism in the New Testament are 
analogous to the one supposed, they need not be the occa- 
sion of any difference of opinion (save as to the mode of 
baptism) between Presbyterians and Baptists. It is agreed 
that the converts to Christianity from Judaism or heathen- 
ism are to be baptized on profession of faith, To this ex- 
* Hodge, "Systematic Theology," vol. iii !? p, 596, 



SUMMARY OF DOCTBINR 305 

tent Presbyterians are firm advocates of "believers' bap- 
tism." But suppose that the heathen above referred to had 
children? What then? Should the missionary baptize 
them also ? If he were a Presbyterian, he would ; if he 
were a Baptist, he would not. And here we reach the real 
difference between our Baptist brethren and ourselves. The 
question between us is simply whether the children of be- 
lievers are entitled to baptism. In answering this question 
two concessions are to be freely made. 1. That the New 
Testament does not contain one clear case of infant bap- 
tism. 2. That the doctrine of infant baptism does not rest 
on a positive command of Christ, but is arrived at inferen- 
tially. Neither of these concessions affects the case. It is 
not strange that the New Testament makes no specific men- 
tion of infant baptism. Let us illustrate : A Presbyterian 
missionary goes to a heathen land to preach the gospel. 
As the result of his preaching a heathen is converted. He 
is baptized, and the fact is reported. But in reporting the 
baptism the minister only wishes to emphasize the fact that 
this heathen has made a profession of religion, that being 
the important thing. If the convert has children, they are 
likewise baptized, and he may or may not refer to it. If he 
does refer to it, he will refer to it as a subordinate fact, and 
say that the children were baptized or the household was 
baptized. Now, the cases of baptism in the New Testament 
were cases like the one supposed. And while it is not 
strange that there is no typical case of infant baptism, like 
that of Cornelius, it is more than likely that where the 
sacred writers say that "he and all his" were baptized 
they are recording as a subordinate fact the baptism of the 
convert's children as well as of the convert himself. Nor is it 
a valid argument against infant baptism that our Lord does 
not command children to be baptized. He did not enjoin 
the observance of the first day of the week as the Christian 
Sabbath. 

26* 



306 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

We have not space enough to enter into an argument in 
defence of infant baptism. These, however, are the princi- 
ples which govern us in the matter. 

(a) The Church of the Old Testament and the Church of 
. the New are one and the same Church. 

(b) Children of believers were members of the church 
under the Old Testament dispensation. They are entitled 
to membership, therefore, in the Christian church, unless it 
can be shown that this right no longer exists. The dif- 
ference between us and the Baptists is a question con- 
cerning the burden of proof. We affirm the doctrine of 
infant church membership because it cannot be shown that 
it is contrary to New Testament teaching. They deny the 
doctrine of infant church membership because it cannot be 
proved by direct testimony of the New Testament. 

(c) If we are right in claiming for children under the 
New Testament the privileges which they enjoyed un- 
der the Old until it is proved that those privileges have 
been revoked, we are right in claiming that they are entitled 
to baptism ; for if they are entitled to membership, they 
cannot reasonably be denied that which is the sign of mem- 
bership. The view we have taken furnishes a natural ex- 
planation of those passages which refer to the baptism of 
Lydia and her household, of the household of Stephanas, of 
the jailer and all his. It is possible that there were no in- 
fants in these households, but the probabilities are the other 
way ; and the references are just such as a missionary at the 
present day would make if he were reporting the conversion 
of a heathen and the subsequent baptism of himself and 
his family. 

3. The mode of baptism. Baptism is a washing with 
water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 
How much water is used and how it is applied are matters 
of small moment. Baptism may be performed by immer- 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 307 

sion, affusion or sprinkling. Baptist? claim that baptism 
means immersion, and that sprinkling is not baptism. For 
this position, however, they have no authority. 

(a) The use of the words " bapto " and " baptizo " does 
not warrant it. These words are used where Nebuchadnez- 
zar is said to have been " wet with the dew of heaven," 
w 7 here the washing of the hands, of pots and cups and 
tables (couches) is spoken of, and in Mark vii. 4, where 
we read : " And when they come from market, except they 
w r ash, they eat not." 

(6) The use of the Greek prepositions translated "in," 
"into," "out of," does not sustain the Baptist position. 
Philip and the eunuch went down, both of them, " into " the 
water. But this does not necessarily mean more than that 
they went down to the stream and stood beside it. If it 
necessarily conveys the idea of immersion, we must hold 
that Philip was immersed too, for they both went down 
" into " the water. 

(c) The cases of baptism recorded in the New Testament 
do not sustain the Baptist position. Three thousand con- 
verts were baptized on the day of Pentecost. Considering 
the short time in which this w r as done, and the scarcity of 
water in Jerusalem, it is hardly possible that they were 
immersed. The account of the baptism of Cornelius sug- 
gests the idea that water was brought for the purpose. 
"Can any man forbid water?" The Philippian jailer was 
baptized at midnight and in prison. It is highly improb- 
able that he was immersed. 

(d) The Baptist position is not supported by the remain- 
ing references to baptism in the New Testament. The Isra- 
elites were baptized in the Bed Sea, but they were not im- 
mersed. We receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but 
we are not immersed in the Spirit. He is poured out upon 
us. 

2. The Lord's Supper. — There are four leading views 



308 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

in respect to this sacrament, the Roman Catholic, the 
Lutheran, the Zwinglian and the Reformed. 

1. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that by the act 
of the officiating priest the elements of bread and wine in 
the eucharist — or, as they call it, the mass — are changed into 
the body and blood of Christ. This is the doctrine of tran- 
substantiation. The scriptural arguments in support of this 
are John vi. 53 : " Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily 
I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
and drink his blood, ye have no life in you ;" and 1 Cor. xi. 
24 : " This is my body."* The mass is both a sacrament and 
a sacrifice. As a sacrament it imparts spiritual nourish- 
ment ex opere operate*. But as a sacrifice it is a satisfaction 
for sin. Romanism is a huge, though consistent (and this 
is more than can be said of high Anglicanism), perversion 
of Bible truth. It makes the minister a priest, the memo- 
rial meal a sacrifice ; and instead of teaching that Christ was 
once (once for all) offered to bear the sins of many, it makes 
the satisfaction for sin depend on the repetition of that 
sacrifice in the mass. 

2. The Lutherans deny that the substance of the ele- 
ments is changed, but they believe in the corporeal pres- 
ence of Christ in, under and with the elements. This is 
consubstantiation. They hold that faith on the part of the 
communicant is necessary in order that grace may be re- 
ceived, but they hold, likewise, that, as in the case of bap- 
tism, the eucharist has an inherent virtue. 

3. The Zwinglian view regards the Lord's Supper sim- 
ply as symbolical, and as a means of grace only as it is 
another mode of presenting truth to the mind. 

4. The Reformed doctrine is opposed to all the forego- 
ing. It is opposed to the Zwinglian view, inasmuch as it 
teaches that the Lord's Supper is a channel of grace. It is 
opposed to the Lutheran, inasmuch as it teaches that this 

* See the commentaries on these verses. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 309 

grace is conveyed not by any inherent virtue in the ordi- 
nance, but. only as the Holy Ghost. uses it for our sanctifi- 
cation ; and of course it is still more opposed to the Roman 
Catholic view. 

Our Shorter Catechism says: " The Lord's Supper is a 
sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and 
wine according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed 
forth, and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and 
carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body 
and blood, with all his benefits to their spiritual nourish- 
ment and growth in grace." * 

Looking at this ordinance as it is expounded in the sym- 
bols of the Reformed Church, and especially of our own, we 
may distinguish four leadiug ideas. 

(a) The memorial idea. " Do this in remembrance of 
me." The love which brought salvation and the way by 
which salvation came are to be kept fresh in our minds by 
the periodic observance of the ordinance which commemo- 
rates Christ's death. 

(b) The symbolical idea. As baptism teaches by sym- 
bol the doctrine of depravity and the necessity of regener- 
ation, so the impressive ordinance of the Supper speaks to 
us of guilt and of the atonement. A Socinian theology has 
no adequate explanation of the eucharist. 

(c) The social idea. This service is a memorial meal. 
It is the " Lord's table " which is spread, the " Lord's 
Supper " of which we partake. It is a communion of Chris- 
tians with their Lord and with one another. The followers 
of Christ are brethren, and he is the Elder Brother of them 
all. 

(d) The sacramental idea. There is no word which ex- 
actly expresses the thought which we wish to express under 
this head. High Churchmen speak of the sacramental prin- 
ciple, but by it they mean to convey the idea that the sign 

* Shorter Catechism, Q. 96. 



310 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

and the thing signified always accompany each other. We 
use the word sacramental in this connection because it 
serves better than any other to express the thought that 
this ordinance, besides being a memorial service and sym- 
bolical of precious truth, is really a means of grace to those 
who receive it in faith, that in a real, though not in a bod- 
ily sense, Christ is present, and that in a spiritual, though 
not in a corporal manner, believers do feed upon him to 
their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. It is a 
mistake to suppose that the Lord's Supper is only a memo- 
rial service or that it is merely a symbolical ordinance. 
The language used respecting it in the New Testament for- 
bids our taking such a low view of it. Rejecting the Ro- 
man Catholic and Lutheran interpretations put upon the 
words of our Lord, it is nevertheless true that he did say, 
" This is my body," " This cup is the new testament in my 
blood." Remember, too, that Paul uses this strong lan- 
guage in regard to the eucharist : " Wherefore whosoever 
shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord un- 
worthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the 
Lord. But let him examine himself, and so let him eat of 
that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and 
drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation (judg- 
ment) to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." 1 Cor. 
xi. 27-29. We read also, 1 Cor. x. 16, "The cup of bless- 
ing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of 
Christ? The bread which he brake, is it not the commu- 
nion of the body of Christ ?" * In this ordinance we not 
only remember Christ — we receive him.f 

* For remarks on these passages, see Bannerman, " The Church of 
Christ," vol. ii., p. 133. 

f " Christ is really present to his people in this sacrament, not 
bodily, but in spirit, not in the sense of local nearness, but of effica- 
cious operation. They receive him not with the mouth, but by 
faith ; they receive his flesh and blood, not as flesh, not as material 
particles, not as human life, not the supernatural influence of his 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 311 

The Lord's table is spread for the Lord's people. None 
but Christians should come to it, and none who are Christ's 
should be kept from it. Hence, in admitting persons to 
sealing ordinances, it is not right to require them to sub- 
scribe to an elaborate creed, or to exact from them more 
than a credible profession of faith.* Men cannot read the 
heart, and Christ does not recognize a vicarious conscience. 

Our Directory for Worship says :f " Children born within 
the pale of the visible Church, and dedicated to God in 
baptism, are under the inspection and government of the 
Church, and are to be taught to read and repeat the cate- 
chism, the apostles' creed and the Lord's Prayer. They 
are to be taught to pray, to abhor sin, to fear God and to 
obey the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they come to years 
of discretion, if they be free from scandal, appear sober and 
steady and have knowledge to discern the Lord's body, they 
ought to be informed it is their duty and their privilege to 
come to the Lord's Supper." 

glorified body in heaven, but his body as broken and his blood as 
shed. The union thus signified and effected is not a corporeal union, 
not a mixture of substances, but a spiritual and mystical union due 
to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The efficacy of this sacrament 
as a means of grace is not in the sign, nor in the service, nor in the 
minister, nor in the word, but in the attending influence of the Holy 
Ghost." — Hodge's Systematic Theology, vol. iii., p. 650. 

* " The principle (of communion), as it is notorious that the Pres- 
byterian Church has always held it, does not constitute the pastor, eld- 
ers or congregation judges of the actual conversion of the applicant, 
but, on the contrary, lays much responsibility on the applicant him- 
self. The minister and kirk-session must be satisfied as to his com- 
petent knowledge, credible profession and consistent walk. They 
must determine negatively that there is no reason for pronouncing 
him not to be a Christian, but they do not undertake the responsibil- 
ity of positively judging of his conversion/ ' — Candlish, quoted by 
Hodge in " Outlines of Theology/' p. 516. 

f Chap, ix., \ 1. 



312 PREPARING TO TEACH. 



III. Prayer. 

God is our Father. He loves us ; he is able and willing 
to help us. We have access to him, and he has promised to 
hear us when we come to him in the name of Christ. We 
are invited to come boldly unto the throne of grace. We 
are assured that the Spirit maketh intercession in us, and 
that Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us. It is 
natural, then, that the child of God should seek commu- 
nion with his Father in heaven. Saved by his grace, kept 
by his power, led by his Spirit, it would be strange if the 
Christian did not rejoice in the privilege of going to God 
with the language of adoration, thanksgiving, confession 
and petition on his lips. 

And as prayer is the natural expression of religious feel- 
ing, so w r e might naturally expect that the religious life 
would be promoted by a prayerful habit. The face of Mo- 
ses shone when he came down from the mount where he 
had talked with God. Nothing will impart radiance and 
beauty to Christian character like communion w T ith God. 
He who would be God-like must walk w T ith God as Enoch 
did. He who would resist the temptations of the world must 
descend to the daily duties of life from the mountain-top of 
prayer. 

But it would be a great mistake to regard prayer as only 
a means of heightening our religious feelings and convic- 
tions, or to value it only for its reflex influence upon our- 
selves. One element in prayer is petition. God's blessings 
are given in answer to prayer. God says, " I will be in- 
quired of by the house of Israel. ,, Our Saviour says, 
" Ask," " seek," " knock." He tells us that earthly parents 
are not so willing to give good gifts unto their children as 
God is to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Paul 
says, " Pray without ceasing." " In everything by prayer 
and thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 313 

God." We cannot complain if we lack the blessings which 
we have never craved. The Westminster Confession of 
Faith says, " Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one special 
part of religious worship, is by God required of all men ; 
and that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name 
of the Son, by the help of the Spirit, according to his will, 
with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, 
love and perseverance."* 

The subject of prayer presents difficulties to some minds. 

1. It is asked how the unqualified promise of our Saviour, 
" If ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it," is to be 
reconciled with the fact that so many prayers not are an- 
swered, and with the additional fact that, in the nature of the 
case, all prayers cannot be answered, as, for instance, when on 
the eve of battle both armies pray for victory. In replying 
to this question we must inquire who are meant by " ye " 
in the passage referred to. Does Christ pledge himself in 
this promise to answer every request which may be made, 
without regard to the persons who make it or the spirit in 
which it is preferred ? Surely not. The promise is to his 
disciples, and must be limited in its application to Chris- 
tians. But do Christians desire that their requests should 
be unconditionally granted ? Does a Christian so far forget 
himself as to presume to know better than God what he 
needs? Surely not. Then the words of our Saviour are 
to be explained by the words of John : " This is the confi- 
dence that we have in him, that if we ask anything accord- 
ing to his will, he heareth us." 1 John v. 14. It is a great 
blessing that God does not answer all our prayers. 

2. It is said that since the physical world is under the 
control of law it is irrational to pray for rain in dry 
weather, for a prosperous voyage or for recovery from sick- 
ness. To this we reply that a theory which makes God 
the slave of his own laws, which represents him as leaving 

* Cap. xxi., I 3. 

27 



314 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

the universe under the exclusive control of physical causes, 
is unscriptural. We believe that u God's works of provi- 
dence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and 
governing all his creatures and all their actions." Believing 
this, we believe that the area of prayer is as wide as that of 
our wants. Nor are we doubtful respecting the efficacy of 
prayer because we do not understand how it is answered. 
Whether God answers prayer by a direct exercise of divine 
power, or whether he does so by means of second causes, it 
matters not.* " Prayer and the answer of prayer are simply 
the preferring of a request upon one side and the compli- 
ance with that request upon the other. Man applies ; God 
complies. Man asks a favor ; God bestows it." f This is 
enough. 

3. It is urged again that if God has foreordained whatsoever 
comes to pass, prayer is unnecessary, since it cannot change 
his purpose. But God's purpose is all-comprehensive. He 
foreordains the prayer as well as the answer to the prayer. 
He has no more decreed the one than the other. 

* " I believe that God commonly answers prayer by natural means 
appointed for this purpose from the very beginning, when he gave 
to mind and matter their laws, and arranged the objects with these 
laws for the accomplishment of his wise and beneficent ends, for the 
encouragement of virtue and the discouragement of vice, and among 
others to provide an answer to the acceptable petitions of his people. 
God, in answer to prayer, may restore the patient by an original 
strength of constitution or by the well-timed application of a remedy. 
The believer is in need of a blessing, and he asks it; and he finds 
that the God who created the need and prompted the prayer has pro- 
vided the means of granting what he needs." — Dr. McCosh in Con- 
temporary Keview for October, 1872. 

f Chalmers, quoted by Dr. Hodge in "Systematic Theology/' vol. 
iii., p. 694. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 315 

LESSON XII. 
THE FUTUKE STATE. 

The question of destiny is now to be considered. It is 
appointed unto men once to die, and after death — wKat? 
Before an answer is given to this question, notice must be 
taken of certain great events which are predicted in Scrip- 
ture, and the occurrence of which will bring about the final 
consummation. These are, 1. The second advent; 2. The 
resurrection ; 3. The judgment. 

1. The Second Advent. — The Church as Christ's army 
is to push its conquests until Jesus is owned the world over 
as King of kings and Lord of lords; then the Lord will 
come. That he is to come in person is abundantly taught 
in Scripture. He left the world with the promise that he 
would return : " For as often as ye eat this bread and drink 
this cup, ye do show the Lord's death, till he come." The 
disciples who watched his ascension heard these words from 
the angels : " Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up 
into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you 
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him 
go into heaven." The writings of Paul abound in allusions 
to " the appearing of our Lord," "that day," "his coming," 
" the day of Jesus Christ ;" and the Apocalypse closes with 
the prayer which is so often on Christian lips : " Even so, 
come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." 

2. The Resurrection. — The Scriptures clearly teach 
that there is to be a general resurrection of the righteous 
and the wicked, and they associate this event with the sec- 
ond coming of Christ : " Many of them that sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
some to shame and everlasting contempt." Dan. xii. 2. 
" Marvel not at this ; for the hour is coming in the which 
all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall 



316 PREPARING TO TEACH, 

come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection 
of life ; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection 
of damnation." John v. 28, 29. " I saw the dead, small and 
great, stand before God : and the books were opened, and 
another book was opened, which is the book of life ; and the 
dead were judged out of those things which were written in 
the book, according to their works. And the sea gave up 
the dead which were in it, and death and hell gave up the 
dead which were in them." Rev. xx. 12, 13. " We who are 
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not 
prevent [precede] them which are asleep. For the Lord 
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the 
voice of the archangel and with the trump of God ; and the 
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and 
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds 
to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with 
the Lord." 1 Thess. iv. 15, 17. 

3. The Judgment. — Besides the doctrines of the second 
advent and the resurrection ,of the body, the Scriptures 
teach that there is to be a final judgment, and there are good 
reasons for believing that these three events are to be contem- 
poraneous. The following are among the leading passages 
which refer to this subject : " For he hath appointed a day 
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that 
man whom he hath ordained." Acts xvii. 31. "We must 
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every 
one may receive the things done in his body, according to 
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. v. 10. 
" The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, 
with his angels : and then he shall reward every man ac- 
cording to his works." Matt. xvi. 27. " When the Son of 
man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with 
him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory ; and 
before him shall be gathered all nations ; and he shall 
separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth the 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 317 

sheep from the goats ; and he shall set the sheep on the right 
hand, but the goats on the left," etc. Matt. xxv. 31-33. 
" Then cometh the end." " The heavens shall pass away 
with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat ; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be 
burned up." 

We do not know how near or how remote the end may be. 
We do know, however, that when Christ comes those who 
are alive shall be changed and all who are in their graves 
shall come forth ; and we know, moreover, that both quick 
and dead are to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 

In considering the subject treated in this lesson, we shall 
speak first of the state of the soul between death and the 
judgment, and, second, of its condition after the judgment. 

I. Between Death and the Judgment. 

The doctrine of our Church on the condition of men be- 
tween death and the resurrection is thus expressed in the 
Westminster Confession of Faith : * " The bodies of men 
after death return to dust and see corruption, but their 
souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an immortal sub- 
sistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The 
souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, 
are received into the highest heavens, where they behold 
the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full re- 
demption of their bodies ; and the souls of the wicked are 
cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter 
darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Be- 
sides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, 
the Scripture acknowledge th none." This view is opposed, 
1. To the doctrine of the "sleep of the soul;" 2. To that 
of " Hades ;" 3. To the doctrine of " purgatory." Let us 
notice these briefly. 

1. The Sleep of the Soul. — Archbishop Whately has 

* Cap. xxxii., \ 1. 

27* 



318 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

given the weight of his influence to the revolting idea that 
the soul falls into a state of unconsciousness at death, and 
remains in this condition until the resurrection. It is true 
that the Bible does speak of death as a sleep and of Chris- 
tians as those " who sleep in Jesus ;" and were there nothing 
positive on the subject in the Scriptures, we might think, 
perhaps, that the reference is to the soul as well as to the 
body. But it is difficult to understand how those who ac- 
knowledge the authority of the Bible can entertain this 
opinion. The dying Stephen saw the heavens opened and 
Jesus standing at the right hand of God. His last words 
were : " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Jesus said to the 
penitent thief: " To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." 
Paul desired to " depart and be with Christ, which is far 
better." To depart and remain unconscious for two thou- 
sand years w^ould not have been far better. Christians 
have died in every age of the Church, and are dying every 
day, in the confident expectation of entering heaven and of 
seeing Jesus. We shall need more evidence than Whately 
has furnished to assure us that they have all been de- 
ceived.* 

2. Hades. — This doctrine has always had its supporters, 
and it has many advocates at the present day. Briefly 

* " Here, for example, is a pas?age from David Brainerd's last 
days : ' Lord's day, September 27, 1747. — I was born on a Sabbath 
day, and I have a reason to think I was new born on a Sabbath day ; 
and I hope I shall die on this Sabbath day.' ' I am almost in eternity ; 
I long to be there/ ' 1 long to be in heaven, praising and glorifying 
God with the holy angels/ October 6 he lay as if he were dying. 
He was heard to utter in broken whispers such expressions as these : 
'He will come; he will not tarry; I shall soon be in glory; I shall 
soon glorify God with the angels/ But Archbishop Whately thinks 
that for a hundred and thirteen years Brainerd has been utterly un- 
conscious, and that all these anticipations are not to be fulfilled for 
perhaps several thousand years/' — Adams' " Evenings with the 
Doctrines," p. 361. 



SUMMARY OF DOCTBINE. 319 

stated, it is that there is a place intermediate between 
heaven and hell which is the abode of the dead during the 
period between death and the resurrection. The blessed 
dead go to Paradise, where they are in a state of happiness, 
though it is far inferior to that which is in store for them in 
heaven. The impenitent dead are in another region of 
Hades, where they await in misery the judgment of the 
great day and the infliction of the punishment of hell. 

On this it is enough to remark that the foregoing doctrine 
is in harmony with the teaching of our standards in so far 
as it affirms that the righteous will not experience the high- 
est blessedness until the resurrection. But it is at variance 
with them in affirming that there is a middle state or place 
which is the abode of departed spirits between death and 
the resurrection. The Bible knows nothing of this middle 
state or place of abode. Christ we know is in heaven, and 
those who die in Christ are with him. 

3. Purgatory. — The doctrine of the Church of Rome 
respecting the future state is embraced in its teachings re- 
specting heaven, hell and purgatory. Heaven is the place 
of highest blessedness, and is the abode of three classes of 
persons: first, of the Old Testament saints who were de- 
tained in Hades as spirits in prison until the resurrection of 
Christ, when they were led out in triumph ; second, of the 
few who attain perfection in this life ; third, of those Chris- 
tians who die without being perfect, and who are required 
to make satisfaction for their sins and to be purified by en- 
during the pains of purgatory. Hell is the place of end- 
less torment, and is the abode of all heretics and of those 
who die in mortal sin. The doctrine of purgatory may be 
stated as follows : The atonement of Christ only delivers men 
from eternal punishment. Temporal punishments, and espe- 
cially the pains of purgatory in the next world, still remain 
to be endured as satisfaction for sin. The Church of Rome 
has always claimed the right of regulating the kind and de- 



320 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

gree of this punishment, and she has done this in three ways : 
(a) By indulgences. The doctrine of the Church of Eome is 
that the " temporal pain, owing to the justice of God, either 
before or after death, . . » may be remitted by an application 
of the merits of Christ and of the saints, out of the trea- 
sury of the Church, the dispensation of which treasure is 
given to the bishops." A man might take his choice of do- 
ing penance or buying an indulgence. (6) By the sacra- 
ment of penance. Mortal sins, if not forgiven, render men 
liable to the pains of hell. To be forgiven they must be 
confessed to a priest. He then absolves from the penalty of 
eternal death, and prescribes the penance which must be 
performed as a temporal satisfaction, (c) By the mass. 
This is a propitiatory sacrifice, and avails for those for whom 
it is intended by the officiating priest, whether they be on 
earth or in purgatory. Thus it will be seen that this doctrine 
places the destinies of men in the hands of the Romish 
priesthood ; and it can readily be inferred that it is a source 
of great power and emolument. But it is as false as it is 
pernicious. 

(a.) There is not a syllable in the Bible which lends it the 
least support. It is true that our Lord said the sin against 
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven either in this world or 
in the world to come. He did not mean, however, that some 
sins may be forgiven in the next world, but only that this 
sin shall never be forgiven. The Scriptures teach that 
nothing that defileth shall enter heaven, and it is not claimed 
that men reach a state of sinless perfection in this life. But 
these facts do not prove the doctrine of purgatory, nor are 
they enough to show that the Christian carries the infirmi- 
ties of his sinful nature with him into the next world ; we 
reach a different conclusion from these facts. For since it 
is true that men do not attain to sinless perfection in this 
life, and that there is nothing sinful in heaven, and that 
Christians go to heaven when they die, we conclude that the 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 321 

"souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holi- 
ness." 

(6.) The doctrine is based on a false assumption. Those 
who maintain it assume that Christ has not made a complete 
satisfaction for sin. Hence there is great similarity between 
the doctrine of purgatory and the creed of a certain class 
of Universalists. The latter reject the atonement, and say 
that God always punishes men for their sins. Men who lead 
wicked lives, they say, must expect to be miserable in the 
next world. But the end of punishment is the good of the 
offender, and the result of it will be universal restoration to 
holiness and heaven. What the Universalists of this class 
believe respecting all men the Roman Catholics believe re- 
specting all who go to purgatory. The answer to both is 
the same. We cannot make satisfaction for own sins, and 
we need not, for Christ has borne our sins in his own body 
on the tree. 

(e.) The doctrine of purgatory contradicts the word of 
God. The Bible says that there is no condemnation to the 
Christian, that he hath eternal life, that when he dies he is 
blessed, and that for him to depart is to be with Christ. 

II. After the Judgment. 
The statements of Scripture in respect to the judgment 
are very explicit. Thus, we read, " The angels which kept 
not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath 
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judg- 
ment of the great day." Jude 6. " Then shall the King 
say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my 
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world. . . . Then shall he say also unto 
them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into ev- 
erlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . 
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but 
the righteous into life eternal,'' Matt. xxiv. 34-46, In 



322 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

these passages the Scripture doctrine of hell and heaven is 
unfolded — to wit : that the wicked shall share the fate of 
the devil and the fallen angels and be the subjects of eter- 
nal suffering, and that the righteous shall be welcomed into 
the enjoyment of everlasting happiness. Let us state the 
doctrine more fully. 

1. Hell. — The teaching of Scripture and the belief of 
the Christian Church is that the impenitent are punished in 
the next world, that the punishment is everlasting, and that 
it consists in pain. This doctrine is opposed (a) by the 
Universal ists, properly so called, who deny that any punish- 
ment awaits men in the next world ; (b) by the Eestoration- 
ists, who admit the fact of future punishment, but deny that 
it is everlasting ; (c) by the Annihilationists, who agree 
with the orthodox view in respect to the fact and the dura- 
tion of future punishment, but deny that it consists in pos- 
itive suffering or pain. 

(a.) The Universalists. The Bible says that God is not 
willing that any should perish, and that he is the Saviour of 
all men, especially of those who believe. It says, too, that 
Christ " tasted death for every man/' and that he died 
" that the world through him might be saved." We cannot 
discuss the meaning of these and similar passages which 
are such favorites with the Universalists, but we know that 
they do not teach that all men go to heaven, for the Bible 
distinctly asserts that some do go to hell. "These shall 
go away into everlasting punishment ;" " The Lord Jesus 
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in 
flaming fire, taking vengeance on them who know not God." 
To say, as Ballou says, that the punishment spoken of in 
the Bible refers exclusively to sufferings endured in this 
life is simply absurd. Better renounce the authority of the 
Bible at once than trifle in this way with its most solemn 
facts. 

(b.) The Restorationists. A great many, probably the 



SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 323 

greater number, of those who belong to the Universalist de- 
nomination in this country admit that there is a punish- 
ment in store for the wicked in the next world, but they 
deny that it is eternal. They support their position by 
saying that God is too benevolent to allow his creatures to 
suffer eternally ; that it would be derogatory to God's maj- 
esty for evil to have a place in his universe through all eter- 
nity ; that punishment is for the good of the offender and 
must result in the sinner's restoration ; and, finally, that the 
word aionios does not mean everlasting but only a limited 
period. To which it is enough to reply that we are not 
competent to say what God may or may not do ; that there is 
no argument against the continuance of evil in the world 
which would not apply as well to its introduction and to its 
present existence ; that the Bible does not intimate that the 
punishment of the wicked is a remedial measure ; and that 
if the words used to express the duration of punishment do 
not teach that it is eternal it is difficult to tell how the idea 
of eternity could have been expressed. The same word is 
used to express the duration of punishment which, in a co- 
ordinate clause of the same verse, is used to express the du- 
ration of happiness. " We must either admit the endless 
misery of hell or give up the endless happiness of heaven." 
(c.) The Annihilationists. The argument mainly em- 
ployed by this class of men is based on the alleged meaning 
of the words " life " and "death." Put into syllogistic form, 
it comes to this: Life always and only means existence; 
death, non-existence. But the punishment of sin is death ; 
therefore the punishment of sin is non-existence, or extinc- 
tion of being. It must be admitted that if the word " death " 
is correctly defined in this argument it overthrows the doc- 
trine of eternal punishment, but it must also be admitted 
that it makes nonsense at the same time of half the passages 
in which the word occurs. But death, as descriptive of the 
punishment of the lost, does not mean annihilation or ex tine- 



324 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

tion of being, for there are degrees of punishment, but no 
degree of death in the sense referred to. One stone is as 
dead as another. Death does not mean extinction of being, 
for the punishment of the wicked is torment : " And the 
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and 
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and 
shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. . . . 
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is 
the second death." Kev. xx. 10, 14. 

2. Heaven. — In answer to the question, What benefits 
do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection ? the 
Shorter Catechism says: "At the resurrection, believers, 
being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and 
acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly 
blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity." If 
the Bible fails to gratify our curiosity by answering all 
our inquiries respecting heaven, it does not leave us 
altogether in the dark. We know that this mortal shall 
put on immortality, and that the body of the believer is to 
be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. The Chris- 
tian shall see Christ, shall behold his glory, shall be like 
him, shall be welcomed into the joy of his Lord. Faith 
will become sight and hope fruition. Now he knows in 
part, but then shall he know even as also he is known. He 
will sin no more, sorrow no more. His inheritance is incor- 
ruptible, undefiled and fadeth not away. Tears are wiped 
away from all faces. Entering heaven, the weary finds rest, 
the wanderer a home, and the pilgrim leaves his tent for a 
city that hath foundations. Earth's sinning Christians shall 
wear white robes. Earth's sorrowing disciples shall waken 
notes of joy from harps of gold. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 



BY 

J. BENNET TYLER. 



28 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 



LESSON I. 
THE PLACE AND PUEPOSE OF THE SABBATH-SCHOOL. 

The Sabbath-school has come to have an important 
place among Christian activities. It enters largely into 
the thoughts and plans, and enlists the active energies, of 
a large portion of the best talent and the most devoted 
piety of the Church. It opens a most inviting and prom- 
ising field of labor — one which can be cultivated with com- 
parative economy and ease, and which is already rich in 
most abundant fruit for the kingdom of our Lord. 

I. Its Eelatiye Place. 

Negatively. — 1. The school should never be a substi- 
tute for home training. God has set men in families. The 
home is a divine institution. Home and family ties consti- 
tute the most benign feature of our Christian civilization. 
The home is God's first and best agency for training young 
children, and the Christian mother is the best teacher. Eight 
here she may find her highest sphere, her most glorious 
opportunity. It is her high privilege to love and cherish 
the young child, and to mould and fashion in the cherishing 
more than all other and later teaching. 

The Christian father is to the child the type of the All- 
Father in heaven — poor, meagre and imperfect type indeed, 

327 



328 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

but yet the best and truest available. The genuine Chris- 
tian home should be, and is, replete with all that is sweet 
and true and elevating, and in the way of moral and relig- 
ious culture it ranks above any and all other agencies. 

Parents have the authority. It is God-given, and oh the 
part of young children intuitively recognized. They have 
the custody, not for an hour a week, but all the week. 

Most obviously, God designed the home to be the first and 
best agency in the moral and religious training of young 
children. 

2. The Sabbath-school should not be deemed a substitute 
for the church or the preaching service. 

The church is the divinely-appointed agency for saving 
sinners, young and old, the pulpit is the great moral and 
religious educator, and both are specially ordained of God. 
The school should never directly or indirectly interfere with, 
or take the place of, the preaching of the word or the regu- 
lar services of the church. 

3. This Sabbath service, in the house of God, is not a 
secular school in any sense. It is not a singing-school, nor 
a legitimate place for fairs and festivals, for tableaux and 
cheap theatricals and absurd dramatic performances. It 
should not be considered a rostrum for itinerant Sabbath- 
school talkers, nor an arena for pushing forward precocious 
children. 

Positively. — The true idea of the Sabbath-school makes 
it a subordinate and subsidiary institution. It is a depart- 
ment of the church, and should be subject to its most care- 
ful and affectionate supervision and control. If adults 
should be considered within the watch and care of pas- 
tor and session, why not the children ? If the young peo- 
ple in any capacity, why not as an associated and organ- 
ized power for religious education and training? 

Conceding that the school is a department of the church, 
that it should be subordinate to and included in it as the 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 329 

greater includes the less, and that it is entitled to its closest 
scrutiny and most loving and tender care, we are prepared 
to assume — 

1. That it is its most important arm of service, (a.) It 
embraces the most easily reached and most impressible part 
of every congregation. We have right here the Church 
and State in embryo. We must look among the young for 
the great majority of our future converts, for the recruits 
for rank and file, for officers high and low, for the solid 
citizens, the teachers and the preachers of the future, (b.) 
The school is an organized power which, properly and judi- 
ciously utilized, is capable of immense possibilities of good 
to the cause of Christ and to the Church, (c.) It can and 
ought to subserve the highest and best interests of the 
Church as an educator in its doctrines and polity and in its 
benevolent plans and purposes. 

2. Its recognized place and relative importance entitle it 
not only to careful supervision, but to generous support. 
(a.) It should be provided with a cheerful and pleasant 
place of meeting. Some houses are all parlor. Not a few 
churches consist mostly in luxurious pews and elegant ap- 
pointments for adult worshipers, very little money or com- 
fortable space being available for Sabbath-school purposes. 
If we can afford handsome houses in which to live and ele- 
gant churches in which to worship, we certainly ought to 
provide cheery and attractive, if not beautiful, rooms for 
this most important service. (6.) The legitimate expenses 
of the school should be provided from the church treasury, 
and as liberally and cheerfully as is the cost of the gaslight 
and the fuel, (c.) The library and papers and lesson notes 
for teachers and scholars should not only be provided, but 
official cognizance should be had concerning their charac- 
ter. Ordinary caution and sagacity would seem to dictate 
that each Church should insist that its own views of truth 
and doctrine should be taught through its own formulas, 

28* 



330 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

and lesson notes and juvenile literature, prepared by its own 
authorized agencies, and also that unfit books are not 
furnished for the library. 

3. The relative importance of this department of Chris- 
tian work would seem to demand — (a.) The most careful and 
judicious selection of teachers, and by competent church 
authority; (6.) Some proper and adequate provision for 
training teachers for the future. (For appointment and 
pledge of teachers, see Appendix.) 

II. The Purpose of the School. 

The great object of the Sabbath-school should be Bible 
study for Christian growth, for immediate religious impres- 
sions and constant Christian culture. It should embrace 
old as well as young, parents and adults as well as children. 
The most systematic and thorough class teaching of the liv- 
ing word should be its leading feature. 

1. It should be a Bible-School. — The short service 
held but once a w T eek will not admit of complicated sys- 
tems of instruction. Yet the truth should be taught, and 
in the best manner and by the best teachers available. 
This is that by which w T e are saved and sanctified. It is 
the bread of heaven for young and old, the only source 
of spiritual life and power. Said Sir Walter Scott when 
about to look his last on earth, " Bring me the book." 
" What book ?" said his daughter. — " There is but one 
book," replied the dying man. When we come to the real 
source of spiritual life and growth, there is but one book. 

2. It should be more than a School.— This service 
for Bible study should be infinitely more and better than a 
mere school. It should be pre-eminently a service of wor- 
ship and song, of praise and prayer. It should be a relig- 
ious service in the highest and purest sense, and the very 
atmosphere should be surcharged with spiritual influences 
at once cheerful, attractive and impressive. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 331 

3. It should reach the Heart. — Each school should 
have a single and distinct design. It should aim with all 
available skill and culture, and with the most intense Chris- 
tian earnestness, to reach the heart and conscience. It 
should seek to illustrate and impress the one truth of the cur- 
rent lesson. It should seek and expect immediate spiritual 
results, and this should be the central object toward which 
all the exercises, whether of song or prayer or class teach- 
ing or review, should certainly and unerringly tend. 

4. It should Supplement the Home. — While the 
school is not designed to supplant home instruction, it 
should seek its cordial co-operation and support. The school 
needs the sympathy of the home, and the child is rarely fully 
reached without this common bond of union and interest. 

Moreover, the sympathy of numbers, the healthy stimu- 
lus of competitive study, the social and religious associa- 
tions of the school, together with the loving labor of a faith- 
ful teacher, can hardly fail to be a most helpful aid in the re- 
ligious training of which the Christian home should be the 
source and centre. 

5. It should be Subservient to the Church. — The 
school must, in the nature of the case, deal largely with that 
part of the congregation which is in its formative condition. 
Hence special pains should be taken to inculcate — (a.) That 
love for and sympathy with the church, its usages, doctrines, 
polity and plans of missionary operation, which underlie all 
true efficiency in any particular church. (&.) The school, 
in all the tenor of its instructions and in its indirect influ- 
ences, should sustain the ordinances of the church and en- 
courage attendance on the preaching service. There is, as 
it is thought, an increasing tendency to excuse the young 
people of the schools from attendance on the church ser- 
vice and the social meetings. One presbytery reports that 
only about one-fifth of the members of their schools attend 
church regularly. The tendency is as alarming as it is 



332 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

prevalent. If these children are expected to love the house 
of God and unflinchingly sustain its ordinances in the 
future, it would seem but ordinary wisdom to cultivate 
the habit in youth. Our schools should be carefully 
guarded against any real or seeming antagonisms to the 
church and its interests. They should be thoroughly loyal 
to all its institutions and constitute a most effective force in 
sustaining and perpetuating them. The school that does 
not plant the germs of church unity and co-operation is 
sadly deficient in its plans and purposes. The school nur- 
tured and cherished by a particular church that does not 
subserve its highest and best interests is an impertinence 
and a superfluity. 

6. It should be a Mission Agexcy. — AYe have spoken 
hitherto of the church and home school. The mission Sab- 
bath-school is a most important and successful force in mis- 
sion work. It is wellnigh universally recognized as the 
pioneer agency in all judicious plans for church extension. 
As such it may often take the place, for the time being, of 
the church and the pastor. 

Ordinarily, the mission school should mean a self-sustain- 
ing church, or a feeder of one already established, and 
should be so located and managed as to become the one or 
the other. It should, if practicable, be under church super- 
vision, and be brought into relations with church and pastor 
as speedily as possible. Such schools in cities, between par- 
ishes, in rural towns and on the frontier, constitute an inval- 
uable and most effective method of carrying the gospel to 
the destitute. If judiciously located and carefully nursed, 
they often very quickly become preaching stations and 
feeders of existing churches, and not seldom grow w 7 ith great 
rapidity into vigorous, self-sustaining churches. This form 
of home evangelization has special adaptation to our wide, 
sparsely settled country. It should come into the plans of 
each individual church as an easy and effective means of 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 333 

stimulating lay activity as well as of reaching adjacent des- 
titution. As an economical and promising method of car- 
rying the gospel to the hearts and homes of the families 
dwelling in " the regions beyond," it should enter fully into 
the plans of the church at large. 



LESSON II. 

OKGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT. 

I. Organization. 

Some definite organization is essential to efficiency. Our 
government has its national, State and municipal depart- 
ments, and these are so nicely adjusted that all work har- 
moniously one within another. Society and the church 
should not be less definitely and exactly organized. There 
should be as little machinery as possible, but that little is 
essential and should be simple and well adjusted, and it 
should link the school indissolubly to the church. 

1. The school should by organic law be in entire sympathy 
and co-operation with the church and the pastor. Want 
of harmony here is fatal to usefulness as well as subversive 
of good order and the natural fitness of things. 

2. There should be an annual readjustment or election of 
officers. Not for the sake of changes, for changes are often 
undesirable and perilous, but in order to provide for changes 
of administration when really necessary. 

3. The officers should be a superintendent, an assistant 
superintendent, and if the school is large more than one, 
a secretary, treasurer, librarian and assistants. 

4. The superintendent should be selected by and with 
the consent and authority of pastor and church, most 



334 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

certainly. If the church itself is subject to the care and 
control of pastor and officers, there is certainly no good 
reason for excepting any of the departments of the church 
from the control of the central authority. If any institution 
anywhere should be most carefully and affectionately su- 
pervised, it should be that which undertakes so largely the 
religious instruction of the young people. Wise pastors 
and church officers, while not evading just and proper re- 
sponsibility, will, on the other hand, never be officious or 
intermeddling. They will ever exercise their functions in 
school as in church with tact and kindness and delicacy. 
They will not foster antagonisms. They will not suffer 
them even in appearance. Details will differ. In some 
cases pastor and session will elect ; in others, teachers will 
nominate, subject to the approval of the session, and this is 
perhaps the better way. The wishes of a faithful body 
of teachers should always have due weight. In all well- 
ordered churches there will be cordial co-operation and con- 
current authority. 

This matter becomes very simple, and is in fact divested 
of all complication, when pastor and church officers are in 
the school. Then in loving sympathy and active participa- 
tion they will govern by virtue of possession rather than by 
abstract right. 

5. Subordinate officers of the school should be selected 
by the superintendent, with consent and approval of the 
teachers. 

II. Management. 

The general management of the school should be abso- 
lutely in the hands of the superintendent. He, of course, 
should be subordinate and accountable to pastor and church. 
But for the highest efficiency, details should be entrusted to 
him as the executive officer. A wise superintendent will 
secure good order, will protect his teachers in their class 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 335 

teaching as the chief feature of the school, will supply- 
vacancies and adopt all practicable means of promoting 
thorough instruction in the Word, and will so conduct the 
general exercises of the school as to illustrate and impress 
the lesson of the day and to enhance as far as possible spirit- 
ual efficiency and power. 

1. Qualifications of Superintendent. — Great care 
and judgment should be exercised in the selection of the 
man to fill this important office. The superintendent should 
be — (a.) If practicable, an elder or officer in the church. 
(6.) He should be a symmetrical, spiritually-minded man. 
(c.) He should possess governing tact. Order is heaven's 
first law. A school cannot be effective in which good order 
is not preserved, (d.) He should have executive ability, 
should know how to set others at work and to work easily and 
smoothly with them, (e.) He should be a worker. No 
superintendent can be highly successful who does not devote 
time and strength and persistent labor to the interests of 
the school. In a word, the superintendent should be the best 
man available. If he does not now possess the above qual- 
ifications, if he is a growthful Christian man, by the grace of 
God and the cordial support of the school and the church 
he may attain to them, measurably at least. 

2. The Qualifications of Teachers. — The standard 
should not be so high as to be impracticable of attainment. 
In the very general absence of training classes for teachers, 
selections must be made in most cases from among people 
of moderate qualifications, and from the ranks of the busy, 
hard-worked men and women. 

3. Secure the Best. — For the sake of Efficiency the 
very best within reach should by some means be secured. 
Aptness to teach, love for and sympathy with children, 
are prime requisites ; culture and education are desirable, 
but earnest piety, love for the work and an absorbing de- 
sire to be useful are more important still. Pastor and 



336 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

church officers and superintendent should compare notes 
and use all practicable methods to enlist the maturest and 
best for this most important service. 

4. The Office should be Magnified. — The office of 
the teacher should be invested with the dignity and import- 
ance which inherently belong to it. It is directly recog- 
nized in the Scriptures. It should be in the church. 
Teachers should be made to feel that their duties are vastly 
important and responsible. We suggest the fitness and 
propriety — (1.) Of careful and formal election to the office 
by some competent authority, such as nomination by super- 
intendent and approval of teachers, and (2.) Some simple 
but fitting ceremony of induction into the office. This may 
consist only of prayer, a few appropriate words from the 
pastor, with public assent to a pledge of fidelity on the part 
of the candidate. See Appendix. 

5. The Session. — One session, as a rule, taking all inter- 
ests into account, is probably better than two. The time 
should be so arranged as best to accommodate the greatest 
number, and best to help and not hinder attendance of teach- 
ers and scholars on the preaching services. 

6. The Lesson. — Obviously, the whole school should 
have the same lesson. Without uniformity there can be 
little unity. With different lessons in the several classes, 
teachers' meetings and general reviews will be of course 
impracticable. No well-ordered school can afford to do 
without either the one or the other. 

The international series of uniform lessons is commend- 
ing itself to the almost universal favor of the schools of 
our own and other countries. The movement has probably 
already done more to stimulate Bible study than any one 
event which has occurred in the history of the Sabbath- 
school. 

Lastly. — The management of the school should as far 
as possible stimulate and promote the most thorough class 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 337 

teaching of the Scriptures, give the most direct and posi- 
tive spiritual tone and direction to all the exercises, and all 
this in a form at once attractive and impressive and in the 
closest harmony with the church, from which the school 
should always be inseparable. 



LESSON III. 



THE TEACHEKS OFFICE.— ITS SACKEDNESS AND 
POWEE. 

I. The Sanctity of the Office. 

Observe, 1. Its Divine Appointment. — The office is 
clearly recognized in the word of God. Teachers as well 
as apostles and prophets were specially set apart in the 
early Church : " God hath set some in the Church, first 
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. " 1 Cor. xii. 
28. Aptness in teaching is one of the essential qualifications 
of a bishop or minister. In the olden times the parent was 
the one authorized teacher of his household and his chil- 
dren. " Thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children " is 
one of the earliest of divine enactments. The most thor- 
ough and systematic household instruction was repeatedly 
and solemnly enjoined upon God's ancient people. 

2. The Practice of the early Church gives additional 
sanctity to the teacher's office. There were schools of the 
prophets at a very early age. Classes for instruction in the 
word, organized and taught in the synagogues by teachers 
skilled in the laws, were common, if not universal, among 
the Jews, before the Christian era. The early Christian 
Church doubtless followed closely the example of the Jew- 
ish in this respect.* The preaching of the apostles and min- 

*Lightfoot says there were four kinds of schools of the law 
among the Jews. (1.) In every city and town there was a school 
29 



338 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

isters of the early Church is thought by many to have ac- 
corded more with the right idea of teaching than with the 
modern style of preaching. It is undoubtedly true that 
simple exposition of the Scriptures, house-to-house teaching, 
familiar conversation on the word and face-to-face question 
and answer engrossed very largely the attention of the 
ministers of the early Church. Philip's preaching Jesus to 
the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts viii. 27-35) was obviously 
more a catechetical teaching exercise than the modern ser- 
mon. 

Peter's message to Cornelius and the " many that were 
come together" (Acts x. 27) was largely conversational. 
Peter was probably the chief speaker or teacher. But 
u they of the circumcision " doubtless expressed their as- 
tonishment, while the Gentiles magnified God. "A certain 
disciple at Damascus" was sent to give sight and instruction 
to the great apostle of the Gentiles. Acts ix. 10. Apollos sat 
at the feet of Aquila and Priscilla, and no small part of Tim- 
othy's training was the early instruction of his mother and 
grandmother. 

3. Our Lord's Example. — Jesus took our nature 
fully. In his humiliation, he touched our humanity at all 
conceivable points, yet without sin. His example sheds 
lustre on the learner. His practice adds tenfold sacredness 
to the teacher's office. At twelve years of age he joined the 
class in the synagogue at Jerusalem, and sat in the midst of 
where children were taught to read the law. If any town neglected 
to provide such a school, the men of the town were excommunicated 
till the school was established. (2.) There were fixed and settled 
preachers and teachers of the law in their synagogues. (3.) There 
were M divinity schools." Of such a one Gamaliel was professor. (4.) 
The Sanhedrim was not only a judicatory, but a school, and its expo- 
sition of the law was final and conclusive. It is alleged in the Jeru- 
salem Talmud that there were at one time in Jerusalem four hundred 
and sixty synagogues, each of which contained an apartment for read- 
ing the law and another for inquiry and study. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 339 

the doctors, " both hearing them and asking them questions." 
Luke ii. 46. In his ministry he went forth "to teach and 
to preach in their cities." a He opened his mouth and 
taught" the multitudes by the sea and in desert places, the 
group gathered in the publican's house, his disciples by the 
wayside, the lone sinful woman at the well in Samaria. 

II. The Teacher's Power. 

The power of the teacher's office is derived, like its sanc- 
tity— 

1. From its Divine Source.— God in his wisdom never 
institutes a line of human duty or privilege without con- 
ferring at the same time the requisite power as well as au- 
thority to carry it forward. Our Lord sent forth as his 
first apostles unlettered fishermen. They had to cope with 
bigotry and intolerance. They were to set themselves in 
opposition to their countrymen, to wealth and learning, and 
to customs which in that changeless Oriental atmosphere 
had gathered strength for centuries. They were charged 
with the difficult task of overturning the old and venerable, 
and of superseding the rites and ceremonies of the ancient 
and honored Jewish Church, by the new and simple relig- 
ion of the despised Nazarene. But our Lord did not 
leave them to their own unaided resources. Before sending 
them forth he " first gave them pow T er." He conferred upon 
them all needed help — precisely that which was necessary 
for their difficult work. 

Having commissioned the army of Sunday-school teach- 
ers going forth in these latter days in his name, the Master 
stands ready to impart all requisite grace and power. Does 
any lack wisdom? Let him ask of God, " that giveth to all 
men liberally and upbraideth not," and it shall be given him. 
Do any lack strength ? The strength of the praying, trust- 
ing soul shall be " made perfect in weakness" Do any lack 
heart and hope? Let such cry continually, "Lord, increase 



340 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

our faith," and they shall possess at length & faith that over- 
comes all obstacles. It is the teacher's glad privilege to say, " I 
can do all things through Christ which strength eneth me." 

2. From the Nature of the Truth Taught. — God's 
truth is mighty, and must prevail. It is the good seed of 
the kingdom of heaven, and has innate vitality. Sown by 
the wayside, among thorns, in stony places, it will not be 
utterly lost. Sown in good ground, carefully watched and 
cultivated — sown amid tears and prayers — it will certainly 
spring up and bear fruit, some thirty, some sixty and some 
an hundred fold. 

The Sunday-school teacher seeks not merely to interest 
or amuse for a passing hour — not simply to instruct the in- 
tellect with curious and valuable lore; he deals in truths of 
grave import that have to do with eternal interests. The 
truth he teaches is the revelation of God to man. It is 
a divine message, and is fraught with inherent authority. 
" It is mighty through God," and carries with it a power 
more than human. It is the grand instrument of the 
world's deliverance and salvation. The teacher should rest 
upon the word as the warrior relies on his well-tried wea- 
pon. The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. Let 
him who wields it know that he is armed with a weapon of 
tremendous power. Panoplied with the complete armor, 
with the breast-plate of faith and with the helmet of sal- 
vation, he may have all necessary and requisite power. 

3. From the Manner of the Presentation. — There 
is no such effective method of presenting truth as this face- 
to-face teaching. Teacher and taught are brought into 
actual contact. The smile of recognition and approval, 
the glow of sympathy, the power of personal magnetism, 
so subtle and influential in generous, sympathetic souls, are 
brought into free exercise. The address, the bearing, the 
character, of the teacher, the little arts by which in close 
and intimate intercourse we learn to please, become import- 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 341 

ant elements of strength. More than this, the familiar 
conversation in which pupils join, the question and answer, 
illustrate and impress truth beyond all other known meth- 
ods of presentation. One may doze listlessly or wander in 
thought to the ends of the earth during sermon or lecture, 
but when he joins in the discussion, and gives expression 
to his ideas on the subject in his own language, he cannot 
well fail to carry something of the subject away with him. 

4. From its Gratuitous Character. — Not least among 
the sources of the Sunday-school teacher's influence is the 
fact that his labor is gratuitous. A wise and competent sec- 
ular teacher may, and often does, have a potential and far- 
reaching influence over his pupils. By virtue of superior 
knowledge, of wholesome discipline, by tact and gentleness 
and obliging good humor, such a teacher may secure a 
lasting hold on his scholars. But the duties of the secular 
teacher are more or less perfunctory, and his relations to the 
scholar assume, to a certain extent, a professional character. 

On the other hand, the faithful Sabbath-school teacher's 
sole spring of action inheres in his Christian love. He 
sees in his pupil a young immortal — one for whom Christ 
died, one on whom his image is written ; that image may 
be marred, defaced and almost blotted out, but still it is 
there. He sees in every neglected child a possible disciple 
and heir of heaven — one whom the Father would not will- 
ingly leave to perish. He sees in the truth the instrument 
of life and salvation. He sees in the Sunday-school a con- 
venient and efficient means of bringing the neglected, the 
lost and wayward into direct and vital contact with the 
saving power of the truth. This Christian love, akin to 
that which the all-Father exercises toward his creatures, 
is not only a powerfully impelling force, but when it finds 
warm and persistent voluntary expression, it commends it- 
self to the confidence of the scholar, and becomes a source 
of vast and extended influence. 

29* 



342 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

5. From the Susceptibility of the Taught. — Child- 
hood and youth are everywhere accessible. The avenues 
to the heart of the child are not yet choked by pet dogmas 
or preconceived and perhaps dangerous error; not yet 
double barred by prejudice or pride of opinion. They are to 
a great extent open and unguarded. Children have an in- 
tuitive reverence for sacred things, and are never skeptical 
till the poison is sown in their hearts by older sinners. The 
years of cool suspicion and calculating criticism have not 
yet come. Habit has not yet taken hold of the embryo 
man with its giant grasp. Seed sown in love, and tenderness, 
and fidelity, finds in young hearts a soil comparatively good 
and fruitful. 

6. From the Confidence so easily Won. — Confidence 
is a fruitful source of influence. Where this is lacking 
there is an utter want of moral power. One may gain the 
confidence of adults, but it is a slow and tedious process. It 
is accomplished by months and years of toilsome effort. 
You are admitted within the sacred portals step by step, 
and often under protest and with all sorts of reservations. 
But not so with the young. Where motives are apparently 
pure and where love is manifest the task is easy. A little 
cheap attention, smiles and pleasant words, and a succession 
of nameless small courtesies, and you have conquered. 

Confidence once won and securely held, your power is 
almost limitless. Once thoroughly established, the wise and 
faithful teacher may by the divine blessing easily and nat- 
urally transfer it to Jesus, the better and truer Friend. 

Far be it from us to assume that the teacher should have 
to do with children only. While .youth and children may 
predominate, we trust the time is not distant when the 
Bible school will also embrace parents and adults. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 343 

LESSON IV. 

HOW TO STUDY A LESSON. 

I. The Importance of Preparation. 

We approach this subject as one of gravest import. 
Nothing in the whole range of the teacher's effort is so ab- 
solutely essential to success as right preparation of mind, 
and heart, and life. The necessity of regular and thorough 
study is universally conceded in theory, and yet by no 
means sufficiently recognized in practice. 

Let us consider for a moment some of the reasons why 
thorough preparation is imperative. 

Notice, 1. We are called to teach wide-awake boys and 
girls fresh from public and private schools. In many of 
these schools are first-class instructors — teachers trained for 
their special work, and in the great improvements which of 
late years have been introduced into educational methods. 

2. We teach the most important of all truths — truths 
without a knowledge of which all other truths are utterly 
valueless. 

3. Teaching is an art — an art by no means easily acquired. 
A few T rare women, and a lesser number of men, are born 
teachers. Their love for children, their knowledge of child 
nature and the avenues to the child heart, lead them some- 
times, with little or no technical knowledge of the art of 
teaching, naturally to follow its rules and intuitively to 
teach well. But with the great majority the case is widely 
different. If w T e w T ould do the best work, the art must, as a 
rule, be acquired by patient and persistent, and often by 
long-continued, effort. 

4. Teaching these sublime truths of the Bible — this 
science of salvation — is a work of great dignity and import- 
ance. It is a work which should enlist the energies of the 
most exalted talent and most devoted piety in the Church. 



344. PREPARING TO TEACH. 

And yet it is a field in which humble, earnest, lowly souls 
may find acceptable and successful employment for the one 
or two or five talents committed to their charge. 

One feels like taking off one's hat to the humblest and 
obscurest teacher who is honestly and earnestly trying to 
lead young souls into the knowledge of divine truth. 

A reverend doctor of divinity asserts that the time is 
not distant when S.S.T. — Sabbath-school Teacher — will be 
considered a title of greater dignfty and honor than that 
of D.D. or LL.D. 

II. How to Study a Given Lesson. 

Observe, 1. Adequate Preparation Involves 
Work. — Successful teaching in our Sabbath-schools, where 
there can be no compulsory attendance or discipline, means 
earnest work, especially in way of preparation. 

In fact, nothing worth doing at all is ever successfully 
accomplished without regular, persistent labor. The matter 
of preparation for teaching is certainly no exception. Very 
many teachers make a fatal mistake right here. They seem 
to imagine that teaching a class for a half hour a week can 
somehow be gotten through with respectably, and the re- 
quirements of the occasion tolerably met, with very little 
thought or study. The error is as vital as it is disastrous 
and lamentable. Success in teaching is not so much a mat- 
ter of leisure or talent or education as of earnest purpose 
and persistent work. 

2. It Involves keeping Ahead of Work. — Good 
business-men drive their business, instead of allowing their 
business continually to drive and worry them. Good house- 
wives do not delay the sweeping and dusting and baking till 
the week is ended or the guests have arrived. 

Teachers who mean to do good work will not put off till 
Saturday night or Sabbath morning the study of the lesson 
of the coming Sabbath. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 345 

It is of great advantage to look over the lessons weeks in 
advance. Obscure passages will become clear by continu- 
ous attention, hidden beauty will be revealed, points will at- 
tract the mind around which to cluster thoughts and illus- 
trations. 

3. It Involves early Study of the Current Les- 
son. — Let us suggest some successive steps which may be 
profitably followed : 

Take up the word of God without note or comment. 
Commence at once. It is Sabbath afternoon. You are 
through with the teaching of the clay. You are weary, and 
strongly tempted to lounge or sleep. We beg you not to 
yield till the lesson has been looked over and over again. 
Take it up next morning. Have an open Bible on your 
dressing-case. Look over the text while at your toilet. 
Get full of it. Drink in something of its wondrous wealth 
of meaning. It may seem obscure or tame at first, but as 
you revolve it in your mind you will see in it a marvelous 
beauty and significance. 

In the diary of Mrs. Kitty Trevylyan the maid Betty is 
one of the prominent characters. She was a model of an 
English serving-woman in fidelity and attachment to the 
family, but of a fretful disposition. She was accustomed to 
attend the preaching services of John Wesley ; and having 
found the new life, she became a pattern of patience and 
sweetness of Christian disposition. Her mistress was a 
member of the Church of England, and in great affliction. 
Betty, after her conversion, became after a manner her re- 
ligious teacher. 

Striving one day in her simple way to console her afflicted 
mistress, she addressed her on this wise : 

" Now, Mistress Kitty my dear" — for this was the way she 
addressed her mistress — "you should remember that the 
promises of God always mean more than they say — never 



346 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

The maid Betty is made unconsciously and aptly to state 
a great truth. These grand revelations in the inspired 
word mean always infinitely more than the words express. 
Human language is too poor and weak and lame to give 
adequate expression to the wealth of meaning and signifi- 
cance revealed as in a glass darkly in the words of Scrip- 
ture. Every teacher should cultivate the habit of independ- 
ent thought and study of the sacred text. Study of this 
kind will soon become a joy as well as a means of moral 
and mental discipline. 

4. Arrange a. Plan of the Lesson. — Throw each les- 
son into a series of topics. Seek out the points which seem 
most important, and cluster your preparation around them. 

They will serve as pins to hang your knowledge on. You 
have a place for hat and coat and dress. Business papers 
are filed and arranged in convenient form for ready use and 
reference. Order is heaven's first law in this as in other 
things. It simplifies and makes easy our mental processes 
as well as our business and household affairs. 

This logical or orderly method of study makes it easier 
to teach and less difficult to remember. 

Better still, it leads the teacher almost intuitively to select 
the portion or portions of the lesson best adapted to the 
particular class to be taught. It enables one more intelli- 
gently to teach its pith and marrow. An outline something 
like this will sometimes be helpful : 

Inquire — (a.) Who wrote the passage? When, and for 
what purpose ? 

(6.) What is its scope or drift? What object had the 
writer in view ? 

(c.) What other passages throw light on this ? 

(d.) What words, manners and customs, or difficulties, 
need explanation and illustration ? 

(e.) What spiritual truth or doctrine is here taught? 
What for me and mv class ? 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 347 

5. Examine Lesson Notes and Commentaries. — Hav- 
ing studied carefully the bare text, take up such commenta- 
ries and lesson notes and helps to preparation as are within 
reach. Compare carefully, modify plans, correct erroneous 
or imperfect conclusions, enlarge ideas and supplement by 
all sources of information. Use the aids available freely, 
but do not lean too heavily upon them. They are designed 
to stimulate, to suggest and help, but not to support ; to aid 
in surmounting difficulties, not to carry one easily and 
smoothly over them ; to supplement the teacher's prepara- 
tion, not to take the place of careful and independent study 
and thought. 

An extensive assortment of helps * is by no means 
necessary. One may be well equipped for a small sum of 
money. In fact, with one set of lesson notes like the West- 
minster Lessons, with a good reference Bible, concordance, 
Bible dictionary, atlas, pencil and note-book, and you are 
fairly equipped for Bible study. 

A thorough study of a few helps is far better than a 
hasty, cursory running over of a large amount of material. 
Large use should be made of pencil and note-book for 
jotting down thoughts and illustrations as they occur in 
reading and observation. 

6. We should Learn to Utilize what we Know. — 
Knowledge is often practically useless because it is not 
classified and made available. We are not likely to know 
too much about any given subject. But we may often ac- 
quire more than we know how to use. The knowledge of 
some people seems a confused mass, without definite shape 
or arrangement. It sometimes runs in ruts and grooves, and 
sets back in stagnant pools. Some speakers are learned and 
profound, and yet have no knack of selecting and arranging 
their musty lore, and so fail to interest and instruct. 

How often do we listen to a foreign missionary who is full 
*For fuller lists of appropriate helps for teachers, see Appendix. 



348 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

of facts of the most interesting character, about which every- 
body is anxious to know, and yet you listen to him by the 
hour with disappointment, because he has no skill in com- 
municating the important facts of which he is so fall. 

Let us study to see clearly, to know something of each 
lesson fully and thoroughly, and to communicate readily 
what is most important. 

7. Improve the Odds and Exds of Time. — A wondrous 
gain is made by improving odd moments. Have a Bible 
on the dressing-case and in the desk, at store or shop. 
Carry note-book and lesson notes in the pocket. Wise im- 
provement of little fragments of time while waiting at rail- 
road depots and for those excellent people who are always 
late, and using odd minutes that occur in every one's 
daily life, will enable the busy teacher to secure an amount 
of preparation that would be out of the question without 
systematic improvement of fugitive moments. A friend 
who is among the busiest of railroad men is one of the 
best prepared of teachers, and his preparation is made al- 
most entirely by this study while on the wing. Give time 
and thought and study even though the subject seems fa- 
miliar. Both subject and object are worthy of your best 
thoughts and noblest efforts. 

Dr. Arnold of Rugby was once asked why he gave so 
much time to the study of familiar subjects. He replied, 
" I wish my pupils to drink from a running brook rather 
than from a stagnant pool." 

Take time for preparation. Some of your best moments 
are never too precious for this great work. Forego stories 
and something of polite literature. Else do not complain 
of want of leisure. You are in earnest. You want to do 
good work — to interest, to reach, to save. The field is wide 
and beautiful, and hopeful withal, and the Master is wait- 
ing to bless. 

One teacher — a busy merchant, now gone to his rest — be- 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 349 

fore the days of uniform lessons used to prepare two lessons 
each week and teach two classes in different schools. He 
taught and labored and prayed as faithfully as he studied. 
Sixteen out of eighteen, from one of his classes, were hope- 
fully converted in a single winter. 

8. Study the Word as a Means of Grace. — The 
teacher who is not a growing Christian can hardly be ex- 
pected to accomplish the best results. One who is not in 
actual living sympathy with the truth, and who does not 
feel its power, will not be likely to make it felt by others. 
The word of God is the only source of spiritual life and 
growth. It is the bread of life, our spiritual food. 

The study of the divine oracles is no less a necessary 
means of grace than is prayer or attendance on the ordi- 
nances of the house of God. 

Lastly, We should Study Prayerfully. — God is his 
own interpreter. The Spirit will take of the things of God, 
and will show them to us in something of their intrinsic 
beauty. He alone can so light up the sacred page that we 
shall understand its meaning and feel its power. He will 
sanctify the truth to the teacher, and make it the power of 
God to the salvation of the taught. His special presence may 
be had for the asking. There is a preparation, a teaching 
power, that comes only in answer to prayer. True success in 
this, as in other departments of Christian work, is largely a 
matter of spiritual life. 



LESSON F. 
HOW TO TEACH A LESSON. 

Strive, 1. To Interest, 2. To Instruct, 3. To Im- 
press. 

Good teaching implies thorough preparation. The les- 
son needs to be studied not only in the light of what is 

30 



350 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

likely to be taught, but also vrith careful reference to emer- 
gencies likely to arise in teaching. To teach thoroughly 
and efficiently, one needs to know vastly more on any given 
subject than can possibly be taught at a single session. 
An unexpected question of a bright pupil often leads the 
poorly prepared teacher to feel most keenly the need of 
having studied all phases of the subject. Above all should 
the teacher endeavor earnestly to obtain clear and distinct 
views of the precise truth to be taught. It will be well to 
keep in mind the fact that good teaching is not an easy 
task. Let no one delude himself with the idea that the 
art is easily acquired. Appreciating the difficulties of the 
case, and firmly and squarely meeting them, is the first step 
in overcoming them. 

I. General Principles. 
While methods must always vary with circumstances and 
be adapted to the diverse needs and capacities of teacher 
and taught, certain principles which underlie all methods 
are ever the same. It is important to keep some of these in 
view. 

1. Simplicity. — Simplicity in language should be care- 
fully sought. It is a prime requisite in writing and speak- 
ing, and is not less important in teaching. Whilst we 
should never be senseless or childish or indulge in baby- 
talk in our teaching, we shall never go amiss in the use of 
short Saxon words. We should also carefully avoid the use 
of words which we do not ourselves fully understand. 

2. Clearness. — Not only should choice be made of such 
words and phrases as will clearly convey our meaning, but 
Ave should strive so to teach that we cannot be misunder- 
stood. A short word is always better than a long one. 
Words in common use among those we teach are better 
than such as to us may seem more choice or elegant. Call 
a spade a spade rather an elongated implement of husbandry. 



J 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 351 

Call home home rather than a place of residence. Call a 
blacksmith a blacksmith rather than an artisan in iron. 
While we often underrate the capacity and intelligence of chil- 
dren, we are apt to forget that their vocabulary is limited and 
that they often get very imperfect and erroneous views of the 
meaning of words, and confound words of similar sound or 
construction, but with widely distinct meanings. Mr. Gro- 
ser very appropriately says : " Never use a hard word when 
an easier one will answer the purpose." Using long, hard 
words is a very common fault — one that needs to be con- 
stantly guarded against. We should study the language in 
which our pupils think and talk. 

3. Ambiguity. — It is often necessary to use words which 
have more than one meaning. Such words, when used in 
teaching or when they occur in the Scriptures, should be 
carefully explained. " Tares among wheat " will sometimes 
suggest to the child rents in the garment rather than the 
true meaning. 

4. Accuracy. — Language is at best an imperfect medium 
of thought. It is often difficult to make our thoughts so 
clear as to be perfectly understood even by intelligent 
adults. The difficulty is more apparent in our intercourse 
with children. The language of the Bible is often highly 
figurative, and our ideas of God, of infinitude and eternity, 
are only imperfectly conceived through types, metaphors, 
analogies and adaptation of thought and language to our 
limited capacities. 

Great care should be had in the use and explanation of 
figurative language. The child who ran home crying, af- 
ter hearing a noted Sunday-school talker discourse on the 
fire and hammer that breaks the flinty rock in pieces, and 
for a long time after avoided the neighboring marble-yard, 
fearing that she would somehow be subjected to the hammer- 
ing process, was a fair representative of a large class of 
children who, through the careless use of figurative Ian- 



352 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

guage often entirely misconceive the real scope and mean- 
ing of what they hear. 

Example. — In teaching the general truth that God 
created all things, it is well always to explain the difference 
between creation and manufacture. While God is the abso- 
lute and only Creator, man has a wondrous power of putting 
the raw material together in all beautiful and useful forms. 
Yet man creates absolutely nothing. 

5. Style. — Teachers do not need to be rhetoricians in 
any technical sense, but the power of clear and concise 
statement, and the proper construction of sentences, should 
be constantly studied. Explanations are often muddy and 
unintelligible from lack of careful attention to this matter. 
So of questions asked. An explanation should be so stated 
as to bring out not only the significance of the obscure 
word or passage, but also the exact meaning of him who ex- 
plains it. Questions should be so constructed that the pu- 
pil may know precisely what the questioner is driving at. 
Blind, vague questions are very common. 

(a.) While we should aim to be concise in statement, 
too great terseness should be avoided in teaching young 
children. Little details are with them essential, not only in 
order to secure interest and attention, but also to make them 
fully understand what is taught. The same idea should 
be repeated in different language and brought out in various 
aspects. 

(6.) While style should often be somewhat diffuse, it 
should never be discursive. Young teachers should espe- 
cially guard against wandering from the subject. Attention 
should be confined strictly to the lesson in hand. Otherwise 
our teaching will be likely to degenerate into vague and 
pointless platitudes. 

(c.) To be highly effective our style must have vividness 
and point. True teaching has always a direct and positive 
purpose. We should aim not only to feel the truth in some- 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 353 

thing of its real intensity and force, but to bring it out clearly 
and accurately, and with such graphic vividness of voice 
and manner and real hearty earnestness as to make it seen 
and felt by our scholars. We should aim at such directness 
of style as will bring the truth home to the heart and con- 
science of our pupils. The truth of God has always a per- 
sonal bearing on each and every one. It is the teacher's 
work to bring out this special significance of the truth he 
teaches. 

This style of teaching will enable us to bring the lesson 
down to every-day duties and trials and temptations. The 
vices condemned and the virtues commended should not be 
the far off, the imaginary, the impossible, but the actual 
and real, and such as pertain to the homely work-a-day 
life of average boys and girls. Short, pointed questions, or 
or a remark abruptly uttered, will often prove a great source 
of power in this direction. 

Example. — If you neglect to obey Christ now, will you 
be likely to do so when engaged in business? When you 
are old or sick ? 

Joseph w r as a Christian and a prophet at seventeen, Sam- 
uel from his infancy. What should this teach you ? 

The price of our salvation was the sacrifice of our Lord 
on Calvary. How great must be the love that prompted it ! 

We have somewhere met w 7 ith something like this state- 
ment : — 

The conditions of effective teaching consist — 

1. In a thorough knowledge of the subject to be taught. 

2. In ability to set it forth in natural logical order and 
to bring it to the plane of the pupil's thought, and within 
the range of his vocabulary and mental vision, so that it 
will be measurably understood and seen and felt. 

3. In quick perception of the pupil's progress and patient 
waiting for its further development. 

4. In the attention and interest of the scholar. 

30* 



354 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

The first three may be called the laws of the profession 
of teaching. The fourth will almost certainly follow the 
skillful handling of those laws. . 

II. Manner in Teaching. 
Manner is very important with adults. It is almost every- 
thing to a child. The influence of many a good man is al- 
most frittered away by mere faults of manner. We have 
space only to mention a few points to which special attention 
should be directed. 

1. The teacher's manner should be very patient. If we 
are physically weak or weary or irritable, we should study 
not to show it. Our scholars are, perchance, restless and in- 
attentive. Let us remember that we were once young and 
restive, and maybe wild and thoughtless. How very patient 
somebody must needs have been with us — with our restless 
inattention, and perhaps wild and willful neglect! 

Moreover, much of the restlessness of childhood is the 
mere overflow of excessive animal life. Let us by no means 
seek to crush it, but rather patiently to give it proper tone 
and direction. 

2. We should be always and uniformly polite. None are 
more sensitive to little cheap attentions than the young. 
The smallest child has rights and sensibilities which older 
persons are bound sacredly to respect. A nod, a smile, a 
pleasant word on the street, and little attentions to per- 
sonal ease and comfort, are never lost or thrown away. 
" The small, sweet courtesies of life " are doubly dear to the 
young people. 

3. Our manner should be encouraging. Nothing so re- 
pels and depresses as continual faultfinding. On the other 
hand, a word or look of commendation is joy and sunshine 
to many a child, faint gleams of which, perchance, but seldom 
light up their sombre and cloudy life. Seek for something 
to commend. " I am glad you are early, John." " Susie, 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 355 

a little more study, and you will have your lesson perfectly." 
Generous, encouraging words such as these sometimes work 
wonders with a certain class of pupils. Parents as well as 
teachers make a fearful mistake in neglecting to encourage 
well-doing on the part of their children. Benjamin West 
says, " My mother's kiss made me a painter," The sympa- 
thetic hand on the shoulder and the encouraging words 
spoken many years ago to John B. Gough still thrill and 
re-echo round the world. 

4. Our manner should be affectionate. It is not enough 
to love our scholars ; we must show our love. Some people 
have undoubted love somewhere about them, but you would 
not suspect it on a casual acquaintance. Cold and icy and 
heartless as they seem, they may prove, after a five or ten 
years' acquaintance, to be kind and lovable people. But 
the children can't wait so long. They are hungry for a love 
that sparkles and shines — for a love that lights up the face 
and tingles along the finger-ends, that finds expression in 
pleasaut words, and in numberless little acts of kindness and 
courtesy that young people are so quick to see and so eager 
to appreciate. A manner that is unmistakably affectionate 
is everywhere a most potential force. It is emphatically a 
power with children. A timid rap was heard at the door of 
a lady friend. The door was opened, and a little child 
came toddling in. She climbed up upon her auntie's lap> 
and then tw T o white arms were wound around her neck. "I 
always loves you, auntie," said the child. "Why, daugh- 
ter?" "Oh, 'cause, Auntie Hattie, I always knows that you 
loves me." Make the children know- that you love them, 
and you may mould them as you will. 

Methods of teaching will be more particularly discussed 
in the next chapter. 



356 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

LESSON VI. 
HOW TO TEACH A LESSON.— Continued. 

I. Methods. 

We have treated of some general principles in the pre- 
ceding lesson. Method may be said to be the practical 
application of these principles. 

Certain successive steps in teaching a class maybe stated 
as follows : 

1. It is Well to have a Plan. — In teaching as in 
preparing a lesson, it is well to have a distinct outline or 
plan. Let it be simple, in natural order, and usually in 
the order presented in the lesson. It is by no means 
necessary or wise to parade one's plan in a fussy manner 
from firstly to sixteenthly. But if the lesson is me- 
thodically arranged, it will be more easily taught, better 
remembered and more readily and closely adapted to the 
class and the occasion. Natural and logical arrangement 
is far better than such devices as the five P's and the three 
S's, for it is always available, and its force is inherent 
in the nature of things. A poor plan is better than none, 
and one's own is often better than another's, provided it is 
thoughtfully and carefully digested. 

2. Eeview. — The first step in class teaching should always 
be a brief review of the preceding lesson. Three to five min- 
utes of careful and judicious review of the last week's les- 
son will often do more tow T ard fixing it in the memory than 
the half hour's teaching. 

Detached, isolated knowledge, like single, separate links 
in a chain, is of little use, and is usually soon forgotten ; 
welded to what is already known, and to that which is after- 
ward acquired, it becomes a connected chain of ever-in- 
creasing strength and utility. Besides, recalling what has 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 357 

gone before often throws necessary and essential light on 
what is now to be studied. We cannot achieve the best 
success in teaching without regular and frequent reviews. 

3. Recitation. — We take it for granted that a good 
teacher will insist on a certain amount of memorizing of 
the Scriptures. Memorizing, to a certain extent, is abso- 
lutely essential to correct knowledge, and it is sadly neglect- 
ed. AVhile hearing a recitation by no means constitutes 
the whole of teaching, we have yet to learn if there be any 
better foundation of knowledge than committing to memory 
first principles. Some at least of the precious gems of Bi- 
ble truth should be securely fastened in the memory. No- 
thing can possibly compensate for the loss — for sore and 
grievous loss it is — if in childhood some portions of the 
word of God are not committed to memory. The memory 
should not be crammed with whole chapters, nor the time 
given up to mere recitation, but selected portions of Scrip- 
ture should be thoroughly and accurately learned, and time 
enough given to recitation to test the pupil's knowledge. 

4. Simultaneous Teaching. — We should avoid teach- 
ing pupils separately, one by one, but should rather teach the 
whole class simultaneously. If one scholar recites, let the 
whole class look over and note errors. If the class is 
questioned, avoid regular rotation, and quickly and adroitly 
skip from one to another, so as to engage the attention of 
all. 

We lately listened in a large teachers' meeting to a dis- 
cussion on this subject, during which a considerable number 
of the teachers stated that they taught the lesson over 
several times, taking, perchance, first one end of the class, 
then the middle and then the farther portion, with no at- 
tempt to teach the whole class at once. 

Such a method involves a fearful waste of time and 
strength, and is utterly subversive of good order and disci- 
pline. AVhile one portion of the class is being taught, the 



358 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

other is in disorder, and maybe disturbing the whole 
school. 

5. Geography and History. — While great care should 
be had lest too much time be devoted to unimportant themes, 
it is sometimes wise, especially with restless boys of a certain 
age, to devote considerable attention to sacred geography, 
historical characters and the manners and customs of Bible 
times. There is no easier or surer way to interest some pu- 
pils than to enlist them in the study of the geography of 
Palestine. The same may be said of the grand historical 
personages of the olden time and the unchangiug customs 
of the Orientals. It is not uncommon for masters of an- 
cient and modern literature to devote considerable space to 
detailed descriptions of places that have become historic. 
So, in Sunday-school teaching, Nazareth and Bethlehem and 
Tiberias and the mountains of Galilee may be ever asso- 
ciated with, and serve to fasten in the mind, the precious 
words of our Lord. They may often furnish a beautiful 
and varied setting for the Pearl of great price. 

6. Pictorial Teaching. — There is great power in 
a neat and graphic word-picture. It should enter more or 
less into all our teaching. The picture should be vivid, 
brief and sprightly, and should embody facts unknown or 
imperfectly understood by the class. 

Take, for example, the lesson in Matt. ii. 1-19 : " The child 
Jesus.' ' After questioning the class on such points in the 
lesson as Bethlehem, Herod, the prophecy concerning the 
birth of the Messiah and the visit of the wise men, de- 
scribe briefly and forcibly these wise men of the East — how 
the magi of the Greeks, as mentioned by Matthew, were 
entirely different and distinct from the magi of the Ro- 
mans, as described by Luke. They were originally from the 
far, far East, from beyond the Tigris, hundreds of leagues 
away, and latterly native to Babylonia. They were rich 
and good and learned. They in the early centuries were 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 359 

acquainted with astrology, and this was the parent of the 
science of astronomy. They belonged to the royal line, and 
their order ran back to the days of the prophet Daniel, who 
in his time w T as " chief of the magicians/ ' and the men now 
on a long and weary pilgrimage to do homage at the cradle 
of the infant Jesus perhaps derived their knowledge of his 
coming from the sacred books left by Daniel in the capital 
of their far-off country. 

7. Teach the exact Lesson. — The true teacher should 
be animated by a single purpose. He should aim to teach, 
as God shall give strength and grace, the appointed lesson 
of the day, and not some other, however good. It may suit 
the fancy of the hour or be deemed easier to teach some- 
thing else, to allow one's self to be diverted into some other 
train of thought, to indulge in pious harangue or cheap 
exhortation on some topic suggested at the moment. But 
such so-called teaching is subversive of good order, of the 
unity of thought and purpose that should obtain in every 
well-ordered school, is demoralizing to the teacher, and usu- 
ally sooner or later brings him into contempt with the 
class. No teaching is so effective as that which comes spon- 
taneously out of the lesson or text itself, and none so likely 
to prove abortive as discursive talk and what seems like 
preaching on unfit occasions. 

We are often impressed most deeply when we are least 
conscious of the process by which we are affected. Nathan 
had a solemn and direct message to David, yet he presented 
it most effectively by draping it in a story through which 
the king was made to condemn himself most emphatically 
and severely. The lesson came spontaneously out of the truth 
presented in the illustration, and thus the way was prepared 
for a most pointed application. " Thou art the man " came 
home to the king's conscience with resistless power after his 
self-condemnation had come spontaneously from the truth 
so skillfully yet indirectly presented by the prophet. 



360 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

We should aim to reach the heart and conscience most 
certainly and by all means possible. But let us remember 
that the truth is the only sword of the Spirit. Let us 
search prayerfully for its edge and point, its personal bear- 
ing and import. Then will our teaching commend itself to 
the respect and confidence of the scholar. 

8. Teach Something Well. — There may be danger, in 
the multiplicity of helps and lesson notes, of relying too 
much upon them, of hasty and crude preparation, of teach- 
iug a great deal superficially — nothing well. A single point 
thoroughly taught, illustrated, fastened in the memory, is 
much better than a whole lesson vaguely and superficially 
gone over. No teacher should rest satisfied with a given 
lesson till at least some portion of it is thoroughly known 
and comprehended by each pupil in the class. 

9. Illustrative Teaching. — Great value should be at- 
tached to this method. Illustrations, if well chosen and 
judiciously used, serve the double purpose of making the 
truth clear and of fastening it in the mind. A teacher is 
but poorly equipped who does not pay special attention to 
the gathering and study of apt and pertinent illustrations 
of the truths he attempts to teach. See lesson on the " Power 
and Method of Illustration. " 

10. Avoid Lecturing. — Preaching or lecturing is most 
excellent in its place. The preacher's office and functions 
are divinely appointed. But preaching in its ordinary ex- 
ercise is not always teaching in its best sense. The two are 
entirely distinct and dissimilar. The preacher's distinctive 
office, according to modern usage, is to move men's hearts by 
the presentation of the living word in the popular assem- 
bly. The teacher's special mission is to bring the truth into 
personal, familiar contact with the class, so that it may be 
seen and felt by each individual soul. 

While some few do good work in lecturing classes on the 
Bible lesson, the practice cannot be recommended for aver- 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 361 

age teachers. With most it must prove a wretched failure, for 
sooner or later it degenerates into driveling verbiage and 
pointless exhortation. Besides, a teacher may lecture for an 
hour, and yet not be certain that a single item of know- 
ledge has been imparted or impression fastened. 

11. The Catechetical Method. — No better method of 
teaching is as yet known than that of question and answer. 
It awakens curiosity, stimulates thought, tests knowledge, 
and impresses the memory by the expectation of being 
tested and by the mental effort of expressing the acquired 
knowledge in the pupiPs own language. 

Moreover, it is the method most easily available. While 
very few can hope to attain excellence in lecturing, ordi- 
nary minds can learn to go good work with the catechetical 
method. 

We cannot too much insist on attention to this matter 
on the part of all who would perfect themselves as teachers. 
It is the mode in universal use in all good secular schools. 
It has the highest possible sanction. It was largely practiced 
by the great Teacher himself. 

12. Bring out the Spiritual Import. — While a cer- 
tain amount of time must be given to history and chronol- 
ogy, to seemingly unimportant themes, great care should be 
had that the vital truths and their personal application be 
not crowded out. Minor truths are pure gold, but they are 
only the setting. Let them serve only to bring out the 
precious gem of spiritual and heavenly beauty. The subor- 
dinate portions of the lesson may be full of instruction, but 
let us ever inquire earnestly how they may illustrate Christ 
and salvation. 

13. Teach Jesus Only. — We may find in every lesson 
truths pointing directly to the cross. Christ is the central 
figure in the Old and New Testaments — of all truth, human 
and divine. 

Whether it be the Christ of prophecy or of history, 

31 



362 _ PREPARING TO TEACH. 

" there is none other name given under heaven among men 
whereby we must be saved." 

The venerable Dr. Archibald Alexander, for sixty years 
a distinguished preacher and for forty years a professor of 
divinity, was heard to say on his death-bed, "Ail my theology 
is reduced to this narrow compass : 'Jesus Christ came into 
the world to save sinners/ " 

Christ and his cross should be the central thought deeply 
underlying all our teaching. Our fallen state and salvation 
by atoning blood should enter into every lesson. 

14. Application. — It is not wise to leave the practical 
lessons to be derived from the truth taught till the close of 
the hour. They will be in danger of being crowded out 
altogether. It is better to make the application on all fit 
opportunities during the progress of the lesson. In prep- 
aration and in teaching our uppermost thought should be, 
What in this lesson can I find with which to reach, impress 
and save my pupils ? 

While the practical should not be overlooked, there may 
be danger of overmuch application. Like too big a sinker 
on the fishing-line, it may swamp the whole lesson. While 
great emphasis should be laid on the faithful and wise 
presentation of the truth in the class, we should remember 
that this is by no means the whole of effective teaching. 

We should seek frequent opportunities to speak to each 
scholar by himself alone, to visit at his home, and, above 
and over all, we should exemplify the truth by our lives. 
We teach not alone by our words in the class, but by our 
manner and spirit ; by what we do more than by what we 
say ; by w r hat we are more than by what we profess. 

Lastly, Observe What is the True Conception of 
Teaching. — Let us ever remember that true teaching con- 
sists not alone in pouring knowledge into pupils' minds as 
into an open vessel. Imparting instruction is indeed a part 
of the teacher's work, but his higher and more important 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 363 

duty consists in awakening thought, in arousing the more 
or less dormant desire for knowledge of spiritual things, in 
stimulating and helping the pupil in the pursuit, in quick- 
ening the conscience and in reaching the heart. 

In concluding this subject, let us note a few of the more 

Common Errors in Teaching. 

Teachers should carefully study to avoid — 

1. Attempting to teach without careful and prayerful 
preparation. 

2. Taking lesson notes into the class. Study them, as 
well as the text of the lesson, at home never so faithfully, 
but do not take them into the class. 

3. The routine use of printed questions. These are de- 
signed to be suggestive and helpful, not to be slavishly 
followed. 

4. Taking things for granted. Be sure that the pupil 
clearly sees what is taught. This must be tested by re- 
peated questions. 

5. The common neglect of memorizing the Scriptures on 
the part of teachers and scholars. 

6. The failure carefully to cultivate the art of communi- 
cating knowledge. 

7. The common yet fatal neglect to commend and en- 
courage pupils when they do well. 

8. The failure to give expression to the love and interest 
you really feel. 

9. Impatience in word or manner. 

10. Above all should we avoid the all too common 
neglect to aim at direct and immediate spiritual impres- 
sions. 



364 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

LESSON VIL 
HOW TO WIN AND HOLD ATTENTION. 

In considering this subject, it may not be amiss to re- 
member that strict and undivided attention is not an easy 
thing to give even on the part of adults. 

It often requires a strong effort of the will to fix the 
mind continuously on any given subject, though it may be 
of intrinsic interest. How often do we lose a word or sen- 
tence of a speaker, or find our eyes listlessly and mechanic- 
ally following the printed page ! How often are we obliged 
to summon our drowsy energies and arouse all our will- 
power in order to bring back and fix our wandering 
thoughts ! On the part of children it is harder still. 
Their blood flows in more rapid channels. They abound 
in animal life. Change and restlessness and motion are its 
legitimate expression. They are extremely susceptible to 
outward impressions and surroundings. They are creatures 
of impulse and circumstance. Childhood and youth is the 
formative period, the season of sensation and emotion 
rather than of reason and fixedness of thought and pur- 
pose. 

Appreciating the real difficulties of the case, we shall be 
better prepared to meet and overcome them. 

I. The Necessity of Attention. 
Though strict attention is not an easy thing to give, it is 
not too much to ask. It is absolutely essential to any con- 
siderable success in teaching. It is idle to attempt to teach 
amid disorder and turbulence. If boys are tossing hats 
or climbing benches or slyly teasing each other, if girls 
are whispering or making fun in the class or gossiping 
about bonnets and ribbons and fashion, the teacher's efforts 
are of little avail. The truth must be heard and attended 
to in order to be effective. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 365 

Note, 1. Attention must be Won. — It is idle to expect 
attention simply because it is desired or commanded. The 
power of giving attention on the part of young children is 
not largely under the control of the will. It must depend, 
to a great extent, on the interest felt. The remedy, then, for 
restlessness and inattention is not scolding or entreaty or 
command, but the presentation of what will attract and 
interest. It is not difficult to engage the attention and in- 
terest of a group of young people in stories or tableaux or 
games of ball or croquet. Attention in the class must, in 
the main, be gained by so presenting the subject taught as 
to enlist the interest of the pupil. 

2. External Surroundings are Important. — Eegard 
to bodily comfort should not be overlooked. In training 
the moral and intellectual it is not safe or wise to ignore 
the physical nature. Bodily discomfort is often inseparable 
from listlessness and inattention. Light, pleasant rooms, 
cheerful arrangement, comfortable seats and good ventila- 
tion go a great way in the right direction. Youthful errors 
are often set down to the account of total depravity when in 
a large measure they should be charged to parental folly or 
neglect. So restlessness and turbulence in schools are some- 
times more the fault of cheerless rooms, bad ventilation 
and hard, uncomfortable seats than of either teachers or 
scholars. 

3. Change of Posture. — Fixed position soon becomes 
painful even to grown persons. No school should be kept 
long in any one fixed position. This is especially important 
with classes of young children. Sitting bolt upright on 
hard, high seats, with dangling feet, for a long time, is sim- 
ply torture to little children. 

II. How to Win Attention. 
1. By Quiet Determination. — While it is of no use 
to expect attention simply because it is wanted or demanded, 



366 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

and irrespective of the quality of the teaching, very much 
is gained by a determined will. The boy who has greatest 
force of will-power is leader among his comrades. The man 
of indomitable and persistent determination is, in the long 
run, the successful man. Firm, persistent will-power, a 
quiet determination to have attention, is a most decided 
help to a teacher in winning and holding it. 

2. By a quick Eye axd Ear. — Your pupils are quick 
in perception and movement, sometimes sly and secretive. 
A teacher who is quick to see and hear and prompt to ar- 
rest incipient disorder has a most decided advantage. 
Some teachers seem not to see inattention, or hear the noise 
of disturbance till it runs into riot and turbulence. 

An educated eye, ready tact and prompt action will do 
most effective service in nipping the evil in the bud. 

3. By Simple Devices. — A little ingenuity will often 
secure the object sought. A few simple, easy questions ad- 
dressed to each member of the class in rapid succession of- 
ten answers a good purpose. A brief, apt story is sometimes 
useful in arresting such as are not easily reached. These 
should, however, be held in reserve, used with care, and 
generally only in emergencies. 

Better still, and more easily utilized, is a note-book or 
slate. Rough maps or diagrams can be readily and quick- 
ly sketched in illustration of geographical or other points 
of the lesson. These will often excite curiosity and arrest 
attention at once. Curiosity is said to be the parent of at- 
tention. It is readily excited by simple devices. Once 
excited, it is not difficult to awaken an eager interest in 
the lesson itself. 

A young teacher of our acquaintance was once placed 
in charge of a large class of undisciplined mission boys. 
They were bright and intelligent, but wild and thoughtless, 
and somewhat demoralized by unfortunate teaching. The 
new teacher found it very difficult to hold them even for a 



BOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 367 

moment. The lesson on a certain Sunday chanced to be 
"Moses' choice." Its keynote was embodied in these 
words : " Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the peo- 
ple of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." 
The note-book was taken out, and the teacher quickly yet 
roughly sketched a pair of scales. Moses was thus repre- 
sented as balancing the matter in his mind. He put in the 
one scale riches, honor, position — maybe a kingship, all 
that a son of royalty in that proud empire could inherit or 
a Pharaoh could bestow ; in the other, poverty, oppression, 
toil, perhaps continual bondage, with the favor of God and 
consciousness of rectitude. The last was shown in Moses' 
estimation far to outweigh the other. 

It was a simple device, but it proved effectual in winning 
the attention of those boys when other means had failed. 
It proved the key which unlocked the secret of very great 
success in teaching. 

4. By Avoiding Monotony. — Stereotyped methods, do- 
ing always the same thing and in the same order, is apt to 
be distasteful to young people. Variety always adds spice 
and zest. So it is not best always first to hear the recita- 
tion of the boy at your right, or to question the class uni- 
formly in the same order and in the same monotonous 
tone of voice. A little thought and ingenuity will enable 
the wise teacher to avoid a certain dull routine which is 
always more or less disrelished. 

III. How to Hold Attention. 
1. By Exciting Genuine Interest. — We cannot rea- 
sonably expect to hold pupils without thoroughly interesting 
them. Real and continued interest must have some sub- 
stantial basis. If the teacher would obtain a strong hold 
upon his class, he must be thoroughly interested himself. 
If the teacher is full of enthusiasm, the pupil will catch 
the contagion. If we wish to raise wheat, we sow wheat. 



368 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

If we wish a crop of corn, w T e plant, not rye or oats, but 
maize. If we wish to instill enthusiasm into the minds of 
our scholars, we must get full of it ourselves. Men do not 
gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles. Like produces 
like, the world over. In order to be enthusiastic and 
highly interesting on any given subject, one must be thor- 
oughly familiar with it — not only with its outlines, but with 
its details and collateral topics. 

In this connection, allow us again to emphasize the im- 
portance and necessity of the most thorough preparation. 
If the teacher would be sure most fully to win and hold atten- 
tion, he should study his subject from all points. He should 
look into it and all around it, and be able to select from the 
whole range of his knowledge the parts most interesting 
and profitable to the particular class taught. 

In short, other things being equal, that teacher will, by 
the blessing of God, best interest and hold his scholars who 
is most thoroughly familiar with his subject. 

2. By Adaptation. — A class of little children require a 
style of teaching differing essentially from a class just com- 
ing into stove-pipe hats and long coats. Mission scholars 
need treatment that differs widely from that which would 
be adapted to the children of educated, religious families. 

Such topics of the lesson should be taken and such a 
style of teaching chosen, as are most likely to interest the 
particular class taught. 

Attention to points like the following may often aid 
in holding the flagging interest of restless scholars : 

If the lesson is a narrative, take up the story somewhat 
in detail. Bring out as graphically as possible its features 
of beauty and interest. Have the pupils turn to other 
parallel or analogous narratives. Call attention to points 
of difference or resemblance. 

If the lesson is historical, study up this phase of the 
subject and emphasize the items of interest. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 369 

If geographical, elicit the pupils' knowledge of the subject. 
Draw outline maps and diagrams. Get pupils to locate the 
different places mentioned in this and preceding lessons. 
Bring out incidents connected with them. Recall charac- 
ters in Bible history that may be associated with the differ- 
ent localities, not forgetting to lead on naturally but surely 
to the spiritual bearing and significance of the truth 
taught. 

Slate and note-book have already been alluded to as a 
wise means of arresting attention. If judiciously used, this 
method of illustration may be made a valuable means of 
permanent and continued interest. 

3. By Frequent Recapitulation. — Frequent going 
over and recalling what has been taught is an essential 
element of good teaching. It is also a valuable means of 
holding attention. If pupils are led to expect that their 
knowledge of what has been taught will be regularly tested, 
this very fact will tend strongly to ensure a certain amount 
of attention. Besides, an idea fairly grasped and clearly 
understood is a source of pleasure, and consequent interest. 
Young people relish very keenly the clear grasping of a 
new idea. Very few adults pursue knowledge for its own 
sake alone. The idea of utility is uppermost. Hence we 
give the closest attention to that which we expect in some 
way to use. We pay the best attention to the acquisition 
of that knowledge which we expect to have tested. The 
candidate for college masters the studies on which he ex- 
pects to be examined, the artisan, subjects which relate to 
his work, the public speaker, that which will be brought 
into requisition in public address. So our pupils will ac- 
quire the habit of attending to the lesson in hand if they 
expect regular examination upon it. 

4. By Judicious Questioning. — Questions put in a 
clear, vivacious, sprightly manner, avoiding vagueness and 
regular rotation, constitute an admirable way of holding 



370 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

scholars who are inclined to be restive. A question rightly 
adapted and unexpectedly put to a listless scholar will of- 
ten arouse anew his flagging interest as well as stimulate 
the whole class. 

5. By Pictorial Teaching. — A class is often greatly 
interested by throwing in an occasional brief word-picture. 
In order to do this successfully, get the subject vividly be- 
fore the mind. Kecall the little details and some of the 
probable incidents not mentioned in the text. Give such 
study to the matter as to be able to picture it so graphically 
that your pupils will see the whole scene distinctly with the 
mind's eye. Three to five minutes of occasional pictorial 
teaching of this kind will prove interesting and profitable. 
Care should be exercised, however, that too much time is 
not taken from the more important method of catechetical 
instruction. 

6. By Teaching Scholars how to Study. — It is im- 
portant to aid pupils to some extent in the preparation of 
their lessons. Teach them how to help themselves. Study 
may thus be made a continual delight. Seek so to in- 
spire and help them that they shall love to master their 
lessons. 

Suppose the lesson for the coming Sabbath to be " the 
flight into Egypt." Ask John to bring some written ques- 
tions and his own answers about the journey. Ask Frank 
to learn all he can about the kings of Egypt in the time of 
Jacob and Joseph, and also at the time of our Saviour's 
birth, James to bring a rough map of the journey and 
Peter a summary of the last lesson. 

Treat these efforts generously. Make as much as possible 
of them. Approve all appreciable points of excellence, 
and little by little you will have infused into your pupils a 
love for study as well as some knowledge of how to do it. 

7. By Winning Love. — Teach never so well, exhaust 
time and resources in preparation and ingenuity, in devices 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 371 

and methods, you will yet come short of high success if 
you fail to win love and confidence. If the scholar feels 
and knows you to be a real friend, if he has confidence to 
go to you in trouble, in trial and temptation, if you have 
so won regard as to be able to guide and influence for 
good, w T ith diligence and fidelity, by the Master's blessing, 
you will have little difficulty to win and hold and lead to a 
new and better life. The teacher who is fully worthy of 
respect and love will be tolerably sure, in the long run, to 
reach the hearts of his scholars. 

It may be well, in conclusion, to call attention to the fol- 
lowing maxims, deduced, in part, from what has preceded : 

1. Attention is an act of the will. It is born of respect 
and love rather than of mere discipline. 

2. It is a habit, and one of most potential influence, and 
a matter of cultivation. 

3. Teachers have much to do with forming and develop- 
ing the habit in their pupils. 

4. It is won and held largely by thorough preparation, by 
firmness and patience, by a kind and affectionate manner, 
rather than by a multiplication of rules and a great show 
of authority. 



LESSON VIII. 
THE PLACE AND MANNEK OF QUESTIONING. 

The right method of questioning is an art which has an 
important relation to all good teaching. Like all other 
arts, it is well learned only by practice. Yet there are cer- 
tain underlying principles which should receive careful at- 
tention. There are certain substantial reasons why one way 
of asking questions is better than another. It is well worth 
the Sunday-school teacher's while to inquire how best 



372 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

to conduct this method of teaching, and why one mode 
is to be preferred above another. 

I. The Place of Questioning. 

The Socratic or catechetical mode of teaching is in al- 
most universal use among the best secular teachers. It will 
be ever likely to enter largely into all good methods of 
teaching. It should take precedence in Sunday-school in- 
struction. A distinguished professor was once heard to 
remark that he had measurably lost many years of his 
teaching life through inattention to and neglect of the art 
of questioning. An eminent Brooklyn preacher is in the 
habit of carefully writing out a series of questions on his 
subject before preparing his sermon. After the sermon is 
prepared he compares it with the questions, in order to be 
sure that he is bringing out the salient points. 

We notice that this method of teaching is specially use- 
ful— 

1. In Gaining Attention. — We spoke of it in the last 
chapter as a device to check restlessness and arrest flagging 
interest. Judiciously employed, it has more substantial 
uses. One may state a truth never so clearly and fluently, 
and yet the scholar may be inappreciative and wandering. 
Put to him a direct question, and his attention is enlisted 
by an almost involuntary effort to attempt the answer. The 
more apt and pertinent the question, the more perfect the 
success. 

2. It Elicits Thought. — A pertinent question stim- 
ulates mental activity. The mind becomes curious and alert 
by the mere effort to understand and answer. A correct 
answer, or one that is nearly so, arouses still further the 
mental processes, and in the class pupils react on each 
other by a certain subtle inspiration which one mind, even 
partially aroused, imparts to another. 

Example. — Suppose the teacher states to the pupil that 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 373 

Jesus went at the age of thirty to the river Jordan ; that he 
was there baptized by John in Jordan ; that the Holy Spirit 
descended like a dove upon him, and a voice was heard 
affirming that he was the Son of God. You are by no 
means sure that the scholar has received a correct idea of the 
facts presented, or that he has really grasped any correct 
idea of the subject. But suppose the following questions 
are asked in quick succession : Who went to the river Jor- 
dan ? For what purpose ? By whom was Jesus baptized ? 
In what river? What remarkable thing happened as he 
came from the water ? What voice was heard? Whence 
did it come ? If these or similar questions are answered 
correctly, you may be tolerably certain that the pupil has 
some correct knowledge of the subject, and that the pupil's 
mental activities have been to some extent stimulated. 

3. It Fastens Truth in the Memory. — Truth may be 
clearly stated and apparently apprehended ; the pupil may 
assent to each proposition and claim fully to understand 
the whole subject; but if his idea or understanding of 
each particular point is expressed in his own language in 
answer to questions, it is certain to be more fully understood 
and remembered. The mere effort which the mind puts 
forth to put one's knowledge into words helps materially to 
fasten it in the memory. Some educators go so far as to 
claim that a proposition is never clearly known till it has 
found expression in the pupil's own language verbally or in 
writing. There can be no doubt that the mental effort re- 
quired to frame one's ideas of a given subject in words 
helps very materially in fastening that subject in mind as 
well as in more fully understanding it. 

4. It is Adapted to Average Teachers. — The lectur- 
ing or talking method of teaching, or that in which the 
teacher simply expounds the lesson or makes a running 
commentary upon it, is undoubtedly sometimes successful 
on the part of a few gifted teachers. But this mode is 

32 



374 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

hazardous and uncertain. It is an endeavor to pour know- 
ledge into the pupil's mind rather than a wise effort to 
stimulate and aid him in gaining knowledge for himself. 
Besides, a half hour's weekly lecture, to be interesting, in- 
structive and profitable, involves mental furnishing and 
study vastly beyond the reach of ordinary minds. On the 
other hand, tolerable proficiency in the questioning method 
is within the grasp of ordinary teachers. Moreover, lectur- 
ing, however admirable, is not teaching in its true technical 
sense. 

II. The Mode of Questioning. 

In pursuing this subject it will be well to keep in mind 
a few general principles. 

We should study to use as the base or groundwork of 
our questions — 

1. The Pupil's Actual Knowledge. — The foundation 
of true teaching must usually be what the pupil already 
knows. From actual knowledge the wise teacher will lead 
naturally and logically on to what he knows imperfectly or 
not at all. Suppose you wish to explain the nature and 
uses of the telegraph. The pupil has seen the poles and 
wires, and has some crude and imperfect notions concern- 
ing the subject. 

We remember once to have heard of a countryman who 
fancied that telegraphic messages were sent by miniature 
coaches over the wires. So, having a message to send, he 
handed it to the operator, and sat down to see him start the 
coach. He was, however, summarily corrected by his wife, 
who told him that the letter was not sent at all — nothing but 
the writing. 

A pupil of this sort would have but few correct notions, 
but there would remain in almost any case some actual 
knowledge of the subject. With such a one the teacher 
will commence, not by asking about the battery and 
the electric current, but will proceed to sound his actual 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 375 

knowledge by asking about the poles and wires, and about 
the fact that messages are somehow swiftly transmitted. 
Little by little he will be led on to the unknown and del- 
icate processes by which the subtle unseen electric current 
is made with the speed of light to transmit our thoughts 
over the continent and under the sea. 

We should study carefully — 

2. To Link the Known to what we Teach. — De- 
tached knowledge is of little value. But if you connect it 
naturally with what is taught, you make it available and by 
law of association fasten both in the memory. 

Example. — Suppose you describe to a child a little hamlet 
on the banks of the Delaware. Very likely he will feel 
little or no interest in the matter. Proceed to question him 
on his knowledge of the history of the country. Perhaps 
he will remember that Washington crossed the Delaware 
with his army during the dark days of the Revolution. 
Question him further, and you may find that he remembers 
his grandsire fought with Washington. Attention will be 
by this time arrested and interest fully aroused. If you 
now tell the pupil that this hamlet marks the spot where 
Washington crossed, and that his grandsire was one of that 
immortal army, you will have supplied the links that con- 
nect the known to what you have taught, and you have 
fastened both indelibly in the mind. 

III. Classification. 

Questions are classified by Fitch substantially as 
follows: 1. Introductory or Preliminary. 2. Instructive. 
3. Review or Test Questions. 

To the first named belong questions of general review 
by which the previous lesson is recalled. Also questions by 
which the teacher approaches the pupil and sounds his actual 
knowledge. Also such as relate to the writer or speaker or 
actors in the lesson, and to time, place and occasion. 



376 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

To the second belong such questions as stimulate the 
thought and lead on to the discovery of new truth, connect- 
ing it in logical order with what is previously known. 

To the third belong those which test the work that has 
been done, which call back in the pupil's own language 
what has been learned and recapitulate the whole. 

While it is important to note this classification, it is not 
best rigidly to adhere to it in the order named. The differ- 
ent kinds of questions will in practice be interspersed through 
the various stages of the lesson at the teacher's discretion. 
It is important to inject questions of personal application 
and review as the lesson proceeds, lest these most important 
parts be crowded out. 

Negatively, 1. We should as far as possible avoid 
vague, indefinite questions. The teacher should have the 
idea he wishes to bring out very distinctly in his own mind, 
and the question should be so stated that the pupil can see 
clearly what is intended. 

This point should receive our most careful and studious 
attention. While random questions and such as admit of a 
variety of answers are by no means difficult, it is not so 
easy to frame questions which clearly and concisely express 
the idea intended in a form intelligible to the scholar. 

2. We should not ask questions which pupils cannot be 
reasonably expected to answer, or on subjects on which the 
pupil is not likely to have some knowledge. It would be 
absurd to question young children on problems in algebra 
or on abstruse and metaphysical theology. 

3. It will be well to avoid such as indicate the answer in 
the form of the question or in the tone of the voice. If the 
question is put in the language of the text, too much is 
usually told, as is the case in the yes-and-no style. In a 
word, rote-questions — questions which can be auswered by 
yes and no — should be avoided, and we should aim usually 
to get answers in the pupil's ow r n language. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 377 

Example. — Suppose the lesson to be The Gracious Call. 
Matt. xi. 25-30. Questions of this sort are not uncommon : 
Whom does Jesus thank ? By what name does he address 
God? To whom has the Father revealed these things? 
Questions of this kind are each answered by a word or two 
of the text, and would bring out the facts of the lesson, but 
would hardly get beyond the bare facts. 

Questions like these would better subserve the purpose 
of good teaching : How 7 was Jesus engaged ? v. 25. For 
what does he thank his Father in heaven ? What things 
does he speak of as hidden ? Who are meant by the wise 
and prudent ? Who by babes ? 

Such questions stimulate the pupil's thought, and tend to 
bring out the spiritual significance of the lesson as well as 
the mere facts. 

4. Scholars should not be rebuffed, however w T ide of the 
mark in their answers. Make something of each answer, 
and as much as possible. Magnanimous encouragement in 
word and manner in this as in other matters is a potent 
agent for good, and constitutes an important element in all 
good teaching. 

Positively. — In class teaching or in reviews of the whole 
school from the desk, we notice — 

1. The Simultaneous Method. — Questions may be 
profitably propounded to the whole, allowing class or school 
to answer simultaneously to a limited extent. The sympa- 
thy of numbers and the enthusiasm generated by the par- 
ticipation of the w 7 hole should be taken advantage of. But 
this mode should never be made exclusive. Rigid and 
regular questioning of individuals is the only certain 
method of knowing that the subject is clearly apprehended, 
especially by the dull scholars. But in questioning indi- 
viduals care should be had that the whole class is attentive 
and interested. If a question is addressed to A, B and C 
should be kept on the alert and invited to correct errors or 

32* 



378 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

omissions. In a word, while the teacher addresses himself 
mainly to individuals, he will really in terest and attract the 
whole class simultaneously. 

2. Aim at Directness. — We should cultivate great sim- 
plicity and directness in thought and language. Great pains 
should be taken to adapt the language and style of ques- 
tions to the age and capacity of the pupils, and to clothe 
them in the language in common use among them. This 
will be an important aid in making our meaning clear. 
Questions are often unanswered because not understood. 
They are frequently not understood because they travel 
all round the point, instead of driving directly at it in 
the fewest and simplest words. 

We should not only be direct in style, but in striving to 
reach the spiritual import of the truth and its bearing on 
the scholar. There is no such method of bringing out the 
relations of truth to the human soul as by adroit ques- 
tioning. 

3. We should Aim to follow Logical Order. — Logic 
is another name for natural order and fitness. Questions 
should be so arranged as, 1st, to oj3en or develop the exact 
subject in hand, and no other ; and 2nd, so that one part 
leads naturally on by successive steps to another. 

Attention to this kind of naturalness greatly aids the 
teacher in teaching and the pupil in remembering. Keep- 
ing this matter in mind will also greatly aid in that clear- 
ness and directness which are so essential in judicious ques- 
tioning. 

A writer in the National Teacher suggests substantially 
the following questions as profitable for teachers to propound 
to themselves : 

Inquire, 1. What is known on this subject by my class? 

2. What of all they know shall I select as a foundation 
upon which to build what I wish to teach ? 

3. What pointed questions shall I ask which shall not 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 379 

by inflection or language tell the scholars what should be 
drawn from them ? 

4. In how many ways can these questions be answered? 
If in many, reject them. 

5. Have I these questions in logical order, so that one is 
based upon another? 

6. How can I illustrate this lesson ? 

7. Do I so fully understand and believe this truth as to 
teach with enthusiasm ? 

Recapitulation and Review. — No lesson is complete 
till its main points have been recalled in questions of exam- 
ination. What has been taught should be recalled in the 
pupil's own language, and the lesson as a whole should be 
always as thoroughly recapitulated as possible. This should, 
of course, not be mere repetition of questions already asked. 
It should consist rather in bringing out the main points, 
and in such manner as to give some correct idea of the les- 
son in its entirety. Questions of this kind should be thrown 
in, in ever-varying form, all through the lesson. Truth is 
only really taught by constant repetition. Simplify and 
repeat, simplify and repeat, in multiform and various ways, 
should be the motto adopted by every teacher. The mat- 
ter of reviews has not heretofore attracted the attention 
which its importance deserves. Regular and systematic 
review during the progress of each lesson is inseparable 
from all good teaching. A rapid calling back of some 
points in the previous lesson should also precede the teach- 
ing of the lesson in hand. In addition to these, general 
reviews from the desk by pastor or superintendent should . 
be introduced regularly and as often as is practicable. 

The quarterly review provided for in the International 
Series is a step in the right direction, but it should by no 
means supersede weekly or monthly reviews in class and 
from the desk. The limited time allotted to the Sunday- 
school will not allow thorough and critical exercises of this 



380 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

kind, but we should remember that a crude and impartial 
review is better than none, and that calling back a few 
points of lessons already studied will often form a link that 
will connect them together, and greatly aid in remember- 
ing and in making the whole available. 

The scope and object of this exercise should be kept dis- 
tinctly in mind. 

We lately stood on the adjacent bluffs which entirely over- 
look a beautiful and substantial Western city. The entire city, 
the hills on the opposite shore, glimpses of the intervening 
river, bits of landscape in the distance, all distinctly in view, 
formed a most beautiful and enchanting scene. But if one 
would fully take in its points of interest and beauty, and 
fix the whole on the tablets of the memory, he needs to 
look at it again and again. New features of the landscape, 
fresh beauties, domes and spires and landmarks before un- 
noticed, all attract the eye and challenge admiration, and 
the scene will be taken in fully only when viewed from dif- 
ferent standpoints and in the ever-varying light of sun- 
shine and shadow. 

A review, as the form of the word indicates, is re-viewing, 
looking again at the subject. It is not a study in detail so 
much as a look at the whole subject from different stand- 
points and in its various aspects. Thus new beauty and 
significance is seen, as well as the proper relations of the 
several parts to one grand whole. 



LESSON IX. 

POWER AND METHODS OF ILLUSTRATION. 

I. Its Importance and Value. 
Apt and pertinent illustration is a most potential force 
in teaching or in speaking — a force the importance of which 
is not likely to be overestimated. Other things being equal, 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 381 

that speaker or teacher who most wisely selects and most 
skillfully uses illustrations has greatest power over the 
minds and hearts of average hearers and pupils. Abstract 
truth is not seldom dry and unintelligible even to adults. 
It is often all Greek to a child, however fluently and 
clearly presented. 

True teaching means more than hearing a routine re- 
citation or the mere utterance of naked truth. The pupil 
is only really taught when he is made to see and remember 
something of the import of what is taught — only when 
truth is brought w T ithin the range of his mental vision. 
Divine truth, the message of the Infinite, should be made 
plain by all pertinent illustrations within reach — by all 
means rightly adapted to make it plain to finite minds. 
The rarest gem needs the golden setting. The true teacher 
should aim to bring out the truth in bold and distinct re- 
lief, so that it shall be fastened in the memory — so that it 
shall reach the heart and conscience. 

Memorizing, recitation and statement of truth by the 
teacher are only initial steps in the right direction. Well- 
chosen illustrations are greatly helpful in bringing the 
truth within the comprehension of the scholar. They often 
serve a double purpose : not only do they aid in making 
truth clear, but also in arresting attention and enkindling 
interest. How often dull eyes light up, and restless, roving 
minds become alert, at the introduction of simile or story ! 

This method has a peculiar charm for young children. 
Fancy and metaphor enter very largely into the every- 
day lives of the little people. Their fund of words is small, 
and so it is intuitively supplemented by infantile drama 
and pantomime. Their very sports are representations of 
the outside world, or what they fancy it to be. The toy- 
house, the miniature crockery, the doll and rocking-horse, 
are emblems of their notions of life above and arouud them 
—a life to them as yet a strange medley of fact and fancy. 



382 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Example. — Suppose you wish to give a young child some 
correct idea of the omniscience of God. Calling attention 
to the vain attempt of the gold-fish to hide out of sight in 
the globular glass tank will be very likely to give an idea 
of the subject more nearly correct than a long statement of 
the abstract truth. 

Judicious illustration has a peculiar fascination as well 
as special value for young children. 

IT. Methods of Illustration. 
The manner of using illustrations will be as various as 
is their endless variety. But it will be helpful and sug- 
gestive to give careful attention to their selection and 
adaptation. 

1. Selection. — Illustrations divide naturally into two 
kinds : 1st, such as help to explain general truths ; and 2d, 
such as throw light on obscure statements. 

Those designed to illustrate principles or general truths 
should be selected from things familiar to the pupil. In 
teaching a class of city boys, familiar only with shops and 
artisans and city life in its more common phases, it will not 
be wise to draw illustrations from objects known only to 
dwellers in rural districts. A dark corner cannot be 
illuminated by a dark lantern, or an obscure subject by an 
illustration of which the pupil has no knowledge. Greek 
and Latin quotations and classical allusions may be apt 
and forcible with cultivated hearers, but they are unintel- 
ligible to the uneducated. The motion of the starry worlds 
and the vastness and magnificence of the planetary system 
may be made useful illustrations among advanced pupils, . 
but they would be worse than useless with a class of pupils 
who had no correct notions of astronomy. 

2. Adaptation. — The wise adaptation of illustrations 
should receive careful attention. It is not enough that the 
fact or figure is familiar. The teacher should inquire — 1st, 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 383 

What is the exact point to be made clear? 2d, What 
familiar fact or comparison or other truth will really help 
to make it plain ? 

We lately listened to a speaker who, in endeavoring to 
elucidate the idea of consecration, introduced the organ 
with its pipes and keys, its wondrous harmony and count- 
less variations of sound, as manipulated by human fingers. 
He then rattled on, as fancy seemed to dictate, to loco- 
motives and coal and iron fields, for a quarter of an hour. 
He spoke gracefully and earnestly, but his subject was 
muddled rather than made clear from utter lack of adapta- 
tion in his illustrations ; in fact, as used by the speaker, they 
seemed to have no relation whatever to his subject. Teachers 
and speakers often fail utterly at this point. A story is told 
which perchance swallows up the truth instead of illus- 
trating and fastening it. A figure or simile is introduced 
which has little or nothing to do with the subject in hand. 

III. Classification. 

Illustrations are divided naturally by Rev. J. M. Free- 
man into two great classes — the verbal and the visible. 

1. Verbal Illustrations. 

Under the first head we notice — 

1. The Figurative. — Many teachers adopt this style 
intuitively and unconsciously. Its value can be greatly 
enhanced by careful study. 

Example. — Suppose the lesson of the day to be the " Two 
Foundations," Matt. vii. 21-29. The lesson is in itself a 
most beautiful example of figurative illustration. To the 
inhabitants of Palestine — a country of hills and mountains 
and deep valleys, subject to periodical and violent rains 
that swelled the mountain rivulets into torrents that often 
flooded the valleys and swept away everything which was 



384 PBEPABING TO TEACH. 

not on a sure foundation — the house on the rock and the 
house on the sand were fit and striking illustrations of the 
truth taught. If we further suppose that our Lord, while 
uttering the parable, may have pointed to the debris of a 
recent freshet, and to the scattered unburnt bricks that 
had lately composed in part the house of some easy-going 
Oriental who had actually built his house on the sand, only 
to be swept away by the first torrent, the force and beauty 
of the teaching is still more apparent. But to a class of 
young scholars who had been all their lives shut up within 
the substantial brick walls of a great city, where buildings 
stand for ages, or w T ho had always lived in a level country, 
where freshets never occur, the beauty of the parable would 
not be so readily seen. Bring out the facts of time and 
place and circumstance under which the words were 
spoken, and the wondrous significance of the lesson stands 
revealed. 

One phase only of the subject has thus far been de- 
veloped. The moral import of the truth taught will be 
brought out by illustrations of a different character and 
from every-day life. 

2. The Narrative. — A good story well told always 
finds ready listeners. If it is brief and adapted to the sub- 
ject in hand, it can often be made to serve the threefold 
purpose of awakening interest, making plain the truth and 
fastening it in the mind. Spare use, however, should be 
made of stories. The right kind are not easy to obtain in 
large supply, and they sometimes excite an appetite which 
is only appeased by a constant diet of the same sort. Bible 
stories should take precedence, for they serve to familiarize 
with the Scriptures as well as to illustrate them. 

Example. — In the lesson "Teaching to Pray," Matt. vi. 
3-15, what more admirable illustration of a forgiving spirit 
than that of Joseph ? The ten brethren who had conspired 
against his life and sold him into slavery are completely in 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 385 

his power, but he nobly leads them forth out of prison and 
addresses to them the magnanimous words : " This do and 
live ; for I fear God." And so he sent them away with corn 
for their famine-stricken households, while he plans a still 
greater deliverance for them and for all his father's house. 

Eastern manners and customs, Bible geography and his- 
tory, afford a wide field for selection. 

Example.— "The Plight into Egypt," Matt. ii. 13-23. 
Opportunity is here offered for investing the lesson with 
the added interest that centres in a land once the most 
powerful among the nations, the home of culture, art and 
learning, once the theatre of the career of the unrivaled 
Joseph, the deliverer of God's ancient people, now the 
asylum of the Christ-child, who is so soon to accomplish a 
greater and more wonderful deliverance for all nations and 
peoples. The modes of travel then in use, compared with 
those of the present day, and the ministry of the angels, 
afford still wider field for illustrative teaching. 

Nature, art and daily life, newspapers and the whole cir- 
cuit of literature, should also be laid under contribution for 
constant additions to the teacher's stock of illustrations. 

2. Visible Illustrations. 

The eye is said to be the king of the senses. What is 
seen by the eye of sense is always more vivid and real than 
what is discerned by mental processes ; hence the peculiar 
value of visible illustrations. A skillful word-picture can 
be made vivid and real if the pupil has some knowledge of 
the subject, but without this the mental image is likely to 
be unreal and distorted if perchance any distinct impression 
has been made. 

A minute description of a locomotive would ordinarily 

be of little interest to a child who had never seen one and 

who knew nothing of its wonderful capabilities ; but show 

him a picture of the machine ; explain its uses, its beauty, 
33 



386 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

its marvelous utility ; better still, place him beside the iron 
horse, let him see its sinews of steel, its breath of fire, its 
wondrous speed and power and tireless strength. The 
child will have obtained in a few moments more correct 
knowledge of the locomotive by this visible illustration 
than by any amount of tedious verbal description. 
Among forms of visible illustration we notice — 

1. The Blackboard. — While artists may do special 
and valuable service with chalk and colored crayons, we 
suggest that elaborate and complicated exercises should 
not, as a rule, be attempted by ordinary teachers. The 
blackboard has, however, numerous plain uses. Texts, 
catch-words, points of an address, initial letters, notices, 
diagrams, outline maps and a variety of simple devices 
can be written in bold characters, so as to catch the eye 
and be thus more readily impressed on the mind. It can 
be made greatly useful with primary scholars. Perhaps its 
greatest value inheres in the underlying principle that 
makes it available in class teaching, in form of slate and 
note-book. Its use in this form cannot be too strongly 
commended. 

2. Maps. — No schoolroom or teacher's study is complete 
without a supply of good maps. Pointing out the exact 
spot where a given event occurred not only adds to the 
store of valuable knowledge, but greatly enhances interest 
in the subject. Hough outline maps on note-book or slate 
may be made a fruitful source of illustration. 

3. Pictures. — Good pictures, such as correctly depict 
Bible scenes, have an unending charm, and are especially 
adapted to primary classes. They should, however, only be 
shown when they are used ; if left to hang in constant sight, 
they lose their freshness and interest. 

4. Objects. — These can be made of great interest and 
value. Mementoes of the Holy Land have always a new 
interest, and so far as they illustrate Eastern manners and 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 387 

customs and throw light on the Scriptures, they have the 
highest value. Objects in art and nature — fruit, flowers, 
vines, faded leaves and growing grain — may sometimes sub- 
serve a good purpose. 

Object illustration has many important uses, but object 
teaching should hardly find prominent place in the Sunday- 
school. Object illustration even should be introduced with 
great care and discrimination, else the object may run away 
with the attention sought to be directed to the subject. A 
distinguished personage was lately called upon to address a 
large school in a neighboring city. He chose the resur- 
rection for his subject. In his w r ell-meant zeal to illustrate 
it he took into the school a live chicken. He had obtained 
something to represent an artificial shell, and the chicken 
was made to appear to have broken the shell and to seem 
to be just coming out of it. A decided sensation was pro- 
duced. The chicken demonstrated long and loud. But 
the chicken swallowed the subject, and left an impression 
on the school which the judicious superintendent will not 
care to have reproduced. The performance was worse than 
a failure ; it was a farce. 

Illustrative teaching has the highest possible sanction. 
It was pre-eminently the method of the great Teacher. 
The grass, the flowers, the husbandman scattering the seed 
broadcast on his native hills, the fig tree by the wayside, 
parable and story, metaphor, events of history and homely 
facts of every-day life furnished him most beautiful and 
impressive illustrations of his mighty themes. 



388 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

LESSON X. 
THE TEACHEK'S WEEK-DAY WOKK. 
The hour on the Sabbath is by no means the whole of 
the successful teacher's work. He may prepare never so 
well and teach never so faithfully, and fail signally so far 
as the highest good of the pupil is concerned. We seek 
not only to instruct in the word, but to impress the heart 
and mould the character. Very much therefore remains 
to be done outside of the schoolroom. Of the w T eek-day 
w T ork of careful study and preparation we have already 
spoken; concerning the remaining features of this work we 
notice — 

1. The Teacher should know his Pupils individu- 
ally. — The class affords very limited opportunity for per- 
sonal acquaintance. The teacher needs to know the habits, 
peculiarities, manner of life and home surroundings of the 
scholar. He needs to be brought into familiar and unof- 
ficial relations with them, where the teacher's garb is laid 
aside and the scholar assumes his natural and every-day 
manner and bearing. Such opportunities are only afforded 
during the week. 

2. Confidence must be Won. — This is best accomplished 
by little acts of kindness and courtesy. Scholars should 
not only be cordially recognized in the class, but on the 
street. A pause, a nod, a smile that fairly lights up the 
face, a hearty hand-shake on the street or in shop or store, 
is always a great pleasure to a child. Young people, and 
even little children, are keenly appreciative of true polite- 
ness, and often as keenly feel its neglect, shy and awkward 
as they sometimes seem. The Sunday-school teacher can- 
not afford often to be in so much haste as to neglect to 
cross the street if necessary in order to speak to one of his 
scholars. This should be a part, and no small part, of his 
week-day work. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 389 

3. The Teacher should be a real Friend. — Nothing 
so takes hold of young natures as that love which is mani- 
fested by outward acts such as one friend unconsciously 
shows to another. One of the simplest and commonest of 
these is an informal call at the home. This is always a 
palpable evidence of friendly interest. Besides, it gives 
opportunity to know the pupil's home associations, employ- 
ments and habits. It gives insight into real needs and 
trials and temptations, and vastly aids the teacher in intel- 
ligent efforts to reach and benefit. It also enables the 
teacher to know the parents, assists to gain their confidence 
and, what is more important still, their co-operation. 

Numberless opportunities will occur in which the faithful 
sympathetic teacher can prove a trusted and valued friend. 
Is the pupil sick? The teacher may minister to his com- 
fort. Is he out of employment ? The teacher may vouch 
for character and help him to a place. Is he out of town ? 
The teacher can write a friendly letter. Is the scholar 
tempted to go astray? If confidence exists, the teacher 
may provide the exact safeguard needed to save from wreck 
and ruin. Your sympathy and help in time of affliction 
and trouble will bind teacher and scholar together in ties 
stronger than hooks of steel. 

4. Choose Fit Times and Occasions for this Week- 
day Work. — It will not be best to visit the homes of the 
poor on washing days, or at an hour when the father is 
usually away and the young people at school, nor the 
parlors of the rich when the house is likely to be full of 
company. Visits should not be stiff and stately, not of 
the full dress, kids and silk and satin order, not of the 
formal and official kind alone. They should not be for 
looking after delinquents only. They should not be always 
solely religious. The matter of delinquency and personal 
religion should by all means receive faithful attention at 
aJl proper seasons. But these personal matters should not 

33* 



390 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

be lugged in at all times, and furnish the only occasions of 
calling. Visits from the teacher should be informal and 
social, and expressive in the best sense of genuine friendly 
feeling. Social visits of this kind are hailed with delight, and 
independent of the added knowledge of the scholars' peculiar 
circumstances and special needs, often afford very great aid in 
acquiring an influence for good — a help that is not un- 
derstood by those who have not faithfully tried it. 

A teacher once visited a scholar who had been absent 
several Sabbaths, and found him taking care of a sick sister. 
He expressed his pleasure at finding the boy thus engaged, 
and with wise tact said nothing about absences. . When 
about to leave, the lad looked up and said pleasantly, " I 
am coming to school again, teacher." The point was gained, 
and in the right way. The boy came back in due time, was 
brought to Christ, and went in after years to Africa as a 
missionary catechist. He once acknowledged to his teacher 
that he had made up his mind to leave the school. That 
visit and the teacher's "kind way of speaking" touched 
his heart and, it may be, saved him from ruin. How small 
a thing sometimes changes the entire current of a life ! 

5. Avoid perpetual Faultfinding. — Find something 
to commend, if nothing better than a clean floor, or a well- 
blacked stove, or an apparent effort of Susie or John to 
master the lesson. If possible, find some encouraging word 
to say to the parents concerning their children. An ounce 
of encouragement is better than a pound of scolding. A 
slight commendation will often prove more efficient for good 
than any amount of faultfinding. 

6. Invite Scholars to your House. — Polite atten- 
tion of this kind is often very potential in its influence. No 
matter if the boys are uncouth in appearance and rough in 
manner, or if the girls are awkward or unfashionably 
dressed. Go with them into kitchen or bath-room if neces- 
sary, and all have a good wash, not forgetting the ceremony 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 391 

yourself. Entertain them with music, pictures and innocent 
games. Serve some slight refreshments or seat them at the 
tea-table with the family. At the close of the appointed 
time (invite only for a specified time) have a little earnest 
talk on personal bearing and conduct, suggest how they 
may be helpful to you and to each other, and then, maybe, 
unite in prayer for a blessing on the class, on each member 
and on each home. 

By such cheap and simple means you may give your 
class a happy hour. You may perchance introduce them 
to a new world and a new atmosphere, and throw around 
them softening and refining influences. More than this, 
you may make a decided advance in winning the love and 
confidence which are largely the source of your power, 
w 7 hich you so highly prize, and chiefly that you may trans- 
fer it to the Master w r hose you are and whom you serve. 

If scholars are grow T n boys or young men, these social 
influences are all the more important. Ladies of intelli- 
gence, tact and social position who are willing to conse- 
crate their pow T ers to the Master can often, by a judicious 
and self-denying use of those social amenities w T hich they 
so w T ell know how to wield, do the highest and noblest 
work in the way of holding and saving these young men, 
just at the critical age when so many are closely verging 
on destruction. 

5. Write Letters to your Scholars. — These are 
often productive of great good. A letter written and di- 
rected all to one's self is an immense pleasure to a child. 
It is an event. It is next to a visit. Besides, it gives op- 
portunity to say privately and directly on the matter of per- 
sonal feeling and experience what could not be well said 
in the class, and w T hich one cannot always find fit oppor- 
tunity to say privately in person. Many of the best teach- 
ers practice this method of week-day letter-writing, and 
with the best results. 



392 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

Lastly, Frequent Opportunity should be Sought 
to Speak with each Scholar Alone. — Class teaching 
must be more or less of a general nature. It is not always 
best to speak pointedly to a scholar of his own feelings and 
hopes, his temptations and trials, in the presence of the 
class. Hence opportunity should be regularly sought for 
speaking to each alone. No sense of delicacy is then offended, 
and a frank expression is much more likely to be made. 
The teacher who does not speak privately to individual 
pupils on the matter of personal faith in Christ loses the 
most precious and hopeful occasions for accomplishing the 
work in hand. 

Let us be mindful that, while the teaching of the word 
is the great instrument on which we must rely for the sal- 
vation of our scholars, its effectual presentation, so far as 
we are concerned, must depend to a great extent on the per- 
sonal influence w T hich we may acquire over them. Our ob- 
ject is not alone to instruct. It is to win these young peo- 
ple to Christ, to train and develop them for his service. 
It is, by the divine blessing, to influence and mould and 
guide them into a true and noble manhood and womanhood. 
This personal influence is w r on or lost very largely by the 
teacher's w r eek-day work. 



LESSON XL 
JESUS THE MODEL TEACHER. 

Our Lord, in order to accomplish his finished w T ork, took 
our nature and humbled himself to become the man Christ 
Jesus. He took our infirmities and was tempted in all 
things like as we are. He touched our humanity at all 
possible points, save that of sinfulness, that he might be our 
pattern, guide and teacher. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE, 393 

The reall} 7 successful teacher teaches not by formal in- 
culcation of the truth alone. His life, his spirit, his cha- 
racter, are to the child far better exponents of the truth 
than his half hours in the class, and far more potent in 
results. 

He who would become a wise master-builder should not 
only study architecture and its rules ; he should study the 
methods of those who have most excelled, and also the men 
themselves. He who would perfect himself in art should 
study the best masters — the methods, the habits and lines 
of thought of the men who have immortalized their names 
as well as their ideals on the canvas and in the marble. 

"Whoever would excel as a Christian teacher should study 
the work and methods of the great Teacher. Not less should 
he study the Teacher himself — his spirit, his character and 
manner of life. All other models are full of imperfections. 
Christ alone should be studied constantly and followed fully, 
keeping in mind always that he was God as well as man, 
Prophet and revealer of new truth as well as Teacher, and 
that he mainly taught men and women, and not children, 
and by " authority, and not as the scribes." 

We have space only to note a few of those human cha- 
racteristics to which perchance our attention most needs to 
be directed. 

Observe, 1. His Lowly Lot. — He chose a life of poverty, 
isolation and toil. He was a child of peasant parentage, 
and no doubt toiled as a dutiful son at his father's trade. 
Entering on his public ministry, he affected no pomp or 
circumstance. He traveled on foot over the dusty plains 
and over the bleak mountain-tops. He ate with publicans 
and sinners. He chose illiterate fishermen for his con- 
fidential witnesses and friends. He was the friend and 
physician of the poor and lame and blind, and of the little 
children. He entered Jerusalem in triumph, in the ful- 
fillment of prophecy spoken ages before, amid emblems 



394 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

of victory scattered along his way, but seated on an ass- 
colt He had no words of commendation for the shouts of 
the populace, but he recognized the hosannas of the chil- 
dren as acceptable praise. He paused in the court of the 
temple to heal the lame and blind who came with the 
surging throng to do him homage. 

Amid the wild pursuit of happiness and personal ease, in 
our hot haste to be rich and what the world calls great, 
may we not profitably pause to consider the lowly lot of 
our Lord ? 

2. His Self-abnegation. — Consider the glory of the 
heavenly kingdom, the abdicated throne, the humbling of 
the Infinite to take on the finite, the long years of isolation 
and toil in obscure Nazareth. Think of the long weary 
pilgrimages during his ministry, his daily and almost hourly 
contact with suffering and disease and death in all hideous 
and repulsive forms. 

His countrymen would at one time have made him king, 
but he spurned the purple and pomp of royalty. He counted 
no act menial that was done for weak, suffering humanity. 
He ministered without recompense to the friendless and the 
poor. He fed the hungry throng, lest they should be weary 
and faint in the way. He washed the disciples' feet; he 
broiled the fish on which on a time they dined. 

3. His Tireless Zeal. — Kestive of the slow flight of 
years before, according to Jewish custom, he could enter 
on his public ministry, he disputed, at twelve years of age, 
with the doctors in the synagogue, because he must be about 
his Father's business. Worn with incessant toil, he stopped 
not for rest while invalid throngs pressed upon him for heal-^ 
ing, and while mothers waited for a blessing on their little 
ones. Though the night watches were devoted to prayer, 
the gray dawn found him walking on the boisterous sea, to 
rescue and comfort the disciples who were wearily buffeting 
the storm. 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 395 

4. His Exhaustless Patience. — Crowds thronged him 
at all hours. Women pressed to touch his garments. 
Peasant children were brought to him, perhaps unwashed 
and unkempt. His disciples strove among themselves about 
precedence. Judas basely betrayed and Peter ignobly de- 
nied him. Scribes and elders sought his life ; proud Phari- 
sees mocked and insulted. The rabble shouted hosannas, 
and anon cried, " Crucify him ! crucify him I" Yet he 
uttered no angry, impatient words, he bandied no epithets, 
he hurled no threats or taunts or stinging rebukes. He 
kindly and patiently taught scoffing lawyers and fickle 
multitudes, and was rejected by the mass of his country- 
men. He sowed the precious seed through long patient 
years, but left the glory of the harvest to be gathered by 
his followers. 

5. His Kindness to the Erring. — How tenderly he 
treated the erring woman ! Self-righteous Jews would have 
stoned. Our Lord has no words of harsh upbraiding ; but 
while her self-condemned accusers are shrinking silently 
away, he says, with looks of pity and words of tenderness, 
" Go, sin no more." He wept tears of sympathy over the 
rebellious holy city. He condemned the profane and 
cowardly Peter only by a look of grief and pity. He not 
only welcomes the returning prodigal, but pictures the 
father as running to meet him afar off in his rags and 
degradation. To the three who slept while on guard in the 
night of his agony he spoke in tones of commiseration rather 
than of blame : " What, could ye not watch with me one 
hour? -The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 

6. His Affectionate Manner. — AVe do not propose 
to dwell on the infinite love of our adorable Lord — a love 
evidenced by a life of toil and privation and a death of 
agony — but simply to call attention to the manner of its 
manifestation. This is a matter which should engage the 
careful attention of all teachers of the young. His love 



396 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

was not only deep and unremitting, but it found constant 
and unmistakable expression. 

Note his affectionate manner in his familiar intercourse 
with Martha and Mary at the grave of Lazarus, and at the 
gates of the city whence was carried out the dead boy, the 
only son of his widowed mother. He said to the repentant 
profligate, sick of the palsy, " Son, be of good cheer ; thy 
sins be forgiven thee." He soothed with touch and word 
of sympathy the disciples affrighted at the glimpse of the 
divine glory on the mount of transfiguration ; he " came 
and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid." To 
the toiling mariners on stormy Tiberias he goes in the early 
dawn with like affectionate words : " Be of good cheer : it 
is I; be not afraid." 

7. His Exaltation of the Scriptures. — Our Lord 
everywhere magnified the written word. To the tempter 
he said, "It is written." To the young ruler's weighty 
question he replied, " Keep the commandments." He 
answered envious scribes and Pharisees by appealing to 
the law and the prophets. 

For his own he prays, " Sanctify them through thy truth ; 
thy word is truth." We have in his teachings and in his 
example the highest authority and sanction for the greatest 
possible exaltation of the living word, pure and simple. It 
is the only instrument of salvation and Christian growth, 
the alone sword of the Spirit. It is the power of God unto 
salvation. 

The Great Teacher's Methods. 

It is not our purpose to speak in detail of our Lord's 
methods in teaching — of his simplicity of thought and lan- 
guage — of the entire absence of the artificial and the sensa- 
tional — of his marvelous tact and unerring wisdom — of his 
conversational and catechetical modes of conveying instruc- 
tion — of his wondrous word-pictures and his illustrative 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 397 

methods — we can only here notice that in these, as in all 
other things, Jesus is the only model whom we may ever 
wholly and entirely follow. His methods, no less than his 
character and manner of life, should be our constant and 
life-long study. So aptly did he catechise that crafty ene- 
mies were confounded and self-condemned, while humble 
learners were led quickly into the clear light of truth. So 
skillfully did he utilize the common things of life in 
illustration of the weighty truths he taught that the very 
drapery of the flowers is made constantly to remind us of 
God's pledge of needed raiment, and the chirp of the spar- 
row of his promise of daily food. 



LESSON XII. 



THE HOLY SPIEIT THE TEACHEK'S GUIDE AND 
HELPEE. 

I. Mental Culture must not be Ignored. 

We have treated in the preceding chapters mainly of the 
teacher's mental furnishing. We are not likely to overes- 
timate its importance. A certain amount of mental culture 
is essential. Let us recall a few of the teacher's more im- 
perative intellectual needs. 

1. The teacher needs all educational helps within reach ; 
knowledge is power always, and mental discipline is inval- 
uable. We do not, however, wish to be understood as mean- 
ing only the education of the schools. The true idea of 
education involves a life process, a culture and discipline 
of mind and heart, that is more or less successfully pursued 
amid the busy avocations of ordinary life. 

2. The teacher needs some knowledge of and sympathy 
with childhood. The man who has forgotten that he was 
once a boy, or the woman who does not remember that she 

34 



398 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

was once a gay and maybe frivolous girl, is ill fitted to be 
a successful teacher. 

3. The teacher imperatively needs some knowledge of 
methods, of the few simple principles that underlie all 
good teaching. He should know that the bare presentation 
of truth is not teaching. True teaching brings the truth 
within the plane of the pupil's thought, within range of his 
mental vision. It involves the seeing and measurable un- 
derstanding of truth on the part of the taught. 

4. The teacher should know something of the power and 
method of illustration if he would teach divine truth effect- 
ually. It should be the great aim of the teacher so to 
bring out the truth that it may be fastened in the memory, 
and thus reach the conscience and influence the life. 

5. Most of all does the teacher need that mental and moral 
discipline that comes of regular and persistent study of 
the word of God. He may get on with little education 
and few helps, but without constant and devout study of the 
sacred text as a preparation for teaching, and as a means 
of grace to himself, he must fail of the best success. 

Richard Hampton — better known in England as Foolish 
Dick — was not only very illiterate, but he was counted 
almost an idiot. Yet he became a very useful minister of 
the gospel among his class. He owed his success in great 
measure to the fact that he was a most earnest and prayerful 
student of the word of God. 

While, then, intellectual furnishing is important, and in 
a measure essential, it is of little worth unless supplemented 
by the spiritual and divine. There is such a thing as spir- 
itual power, and it constitutes the most important part of 
the teacher's preparation. 

II. The Aid of the Holy Spirit is Essential. 
A professor in one of our theological seminaries once said 
to his graduating class, " Young gentlemen, you are com- 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 399 

paratively few in numbers; but if you will double your 
spirituality, you will double your numbers." Let us here 
and now say to the teachers of the schools, If you will 
double your spirituality, you will quadruple your power. 
We have a deep and abiding conviction that it is the high 
privilege of all teachers and Christian workers so to in- 
crease their spiritual forcefulness as to add many fold to 
their usefulness, as well as to the joy of their Christian 
experience. Would God we could persuade all Sunday- 
school teachers earnestly to seek and confidently to expect 
such large manifestations of divine grace and power as our 
gracious Lord delights to bestow ! 

After our Lord had risen, he commanded the disciples 
to wait till they should be endued with power from on 
high. The Church was weak, the enemy apparently tri- 
umphant, the world was perishing, yet they waited patiently 
for the robing. Let us look for a moment at the 
nature of this power. Evidently it was not conversion. 
The twelve and the seventy were no doubt true disciples, 
and had been commissioned to preach and teach by 
Christ himself. It was not ordinary sanctifying grace. 
James and John and Philip and Bartholomew and the 
Marys no doubt were decent Christians before the wait- 
ing in the upper room. It was not miraculous power. 
The disciples had worked miracles not a few before our 
Lord's passion. 

Positively, 1. It was more and better than miraculous 
power. First, apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers, 
after that miracles, is the scriptural order. The one was 
temporary and incidental, the other essential and in per- 
petuity. 

2. It was better than the personal presence of Christ 
himself. He declared it expedient that he should go away 
that the Comforter might come. 

3. It was a mysterious, unseen, intangible, yet potential 



400 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

force. It conveyed unwonted aptness of speech and of 
teaching, a clearer and more perfect understanding of truth, 
and a certain wondrous power over the hearts and con- 
sciences of men. Peter w r as the same unlettered Galilean 
at Pentecost as when, in the porch of the palace of the high 
priest, he acted the coward and the craven. 

4. This power, then and now, is conferred on all who seek 
it aright. It was not given at first to the twelve to be by 
them transmitted to the others. The tongue of fire — apt 
emblem to Jewish minds of the divine presence — descended 
and sat on each of the one hundred and twenty, on apostles 
and laymen and on the women. 

5. This divine presence confers a direct and positive teach- 
ing power : " But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you 
all things. ,, 

There seems a vast amount of practical skepticism con- 
cerning the personal presence and teaching power of the 
Holy Spirit. We may not understand the mysterious and 
delicate process, but we cannot deny the facts. Mind acts 
on mind. Dull eyes light up to the gleam of sympathy. 
Smile responds to smile, and heart pulsates responsively to 
the generous beating of other hearts ; and often an electric 
thrill of sympathy goes through an entire audience, struck 
out by one earnest magnetic nature. Why should it be 
thought a thing incredible that the divine should act on 
the human, the Creator on the creature? Water at a 
low temperature is hard and brittle. Add a few degrees 
of heat, and it becomes liquid, yet inert and tame. Super- 
heated and confined, it evolves a power that has revolution- 
ized continents and to-day controls the commerce of the na- 
tions. Yet power is in itself an absolute mystery. We can- 
not understand or describe it. Its source and mysterious 
secrets are beyond our ken. " God has spoken once, yea, 
twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God." 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE, 401 

Let us now inquire what special helps and aptitudes this 
spiritual power affords the teacher. 

1. It Gives Comfort. — The teacher's work is no sine- 
cure. It is not a position of ease or luxury. The majority of 
Sabbath-school teachers are busy men and women, some- 
times sadly overworked, often snatching moments from 
needed rest or recreation for preparation for the work and 
for the work itself. Mental acquirements and resources 
are not always abundant. Helps are few, and there is not 
seldom a lack of skill in using them. Children are restless" 
and inattentive to divine things. Human nature is per- 
verse. The enemy is ever sowing tares. Strength and 
patience sometimes give way. The teacher needs such 
comfort and encouragement as human help and sympathy 
can never give. How sweet at such times the still small 
voice of the Spirit speaking to weary workers in tones 
and words of infinite tenderness ! 

2. It Gives Joy. — The teacher needs a cheerful, joyful 
experience. Long- faced, sombre, disconsolate Christians 
must have rare tact and grace if they do not absolutely 
repel the } r oung. A cheerful type of piety is ever attract- 
ive and doubly useful, especially to children. The Spirit 
gives joy as well as consolation. " These things have I 
spoken to you that in me ye might have peace." "Ask, 
and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." How 
expressive the language ! The Master would have us full 
of joy as the brimming goblet is filled with the limpid water. 

3. It Promotes Christian Growth. — Teachers should 
be growthful Christians. They should steadily advance in 
love and patience and self-control, and in all such elements 
as constitute symmetrical Christian character, and especially 
in that faith without which it is impossible to please God — 
without which in active exercise the real source of growth 
and power must be perpetually ignored. 

" We teach and we are taught by something about us 

34* 



402 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

that never enters into language at all." We teach not so 
much by what we say as by what we do — not so much by 
what we profess as by what we are. The teacher's life is 
the great object illustration of the truth, the exponent of 
what he teaches for better or for worse. A quaint old 
writer says it is of no use to teach cream and live skim- 
milk. The commonest and homeliest truths become radiant 
in pristine beauty if translated into beneficent action, if 
fairly and fully illustrated in the life. 

4. It Quickens the Intellect. — The Spirit of God 
not only lights up the sacred page with wondrous beauty 
and significance. It arouses dormant energies, quickens 
moral perceptions, clears up our notions of right and wrong, 
and so lets in the hidden light of divine truth. " Open 
thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of 
thy law." 

If we would see clearly and understand fully the beauty 
and significance of what we teach, we must seek help and 
light from the divine Messenger, who will teach us all things 
and bring all things to our remembrance. The telegraph 
performs its wondrous work rapidly and well when the elec- 
tric current is full and strong, when connection and insula- 
tion are perfect, when the operator is alert and competent. 
The Spirit of God supplies the subtle current of our power, 
inspires the agencies, perfects all mediums and applies and 
renders effective the great instrument. Let us remember 
that the highest function of the teacher is not so much to 
impart knowledge as to stimulate the pupil in its love and 
pursuit. The Spirit of God is our best teacher, because he 
arouses and stimulates the dead dormant powers within us. 

5. This Spiritual Power is Absolutely Essential 
to High Success in Teaching. — The most careful study 
of lessons and methods is important and in a sense essential. 
We are not likely to attach too much importance to these 
matters. But mental furnishinc* alone is of small value 



HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE. 403 

unless vitalized b) T the spiritual and the divine. One may 
be orthodox in doctrine, outwardly correct in life, complete 
in mental culture, and yet " faultily faultless, icily regular, 
splendidly null." We aim at spiritual results, to reach the 
heart and influence the life. Spiritual power is absolutely 
essential to this end. We may pile coal and wood on the 
grate and adjust with all nice propriety, but without the 
glow of fire all will be cold and drear. We may set candles 
on a hundred silver candlesticks, and turn the gas on a 
thousand jets in "golden chandeliers," but without the 
touch of flame all will be dark and desolate. 

Lastly, We Need it in Large Measure. — The 
teacher needs not only ordinary grace, but to be robed with 
the Holy Spirit as with a garment. We need the tongue 
of fire, power to understand the truth, to feel its force and 
beauty, so that it may be felt by other hearts and con- 
sciences, so that it shall not be fruitless and void. " He 
will dwell with you, and be in you." Let us seek this in- 
dwelling presence, not as a stranger tarrying for a nighty 
but as an almighty Friend and Helper taking up his abode 
with us. Large measure of this divine presence is essential 
to great success. It is like the full stream of water to the 
mill, like the full pressure of steam to the boiler, like the 
healthy vital current to the heart's pulsations. With small 
measure of grace, our experience is sad and dejected, and 
our work is fitful and discordant. Filled with the divine, 
our experience shall be full of joy, our lives of healthful 
vigor and our work abundant in its fruitage. 



APPENDIX. 



A SUNDAY-SCHOOL 
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. 

We hereby associate ourselves together under the care 
and supervision of our church and session for Bible study 
and religious services. That our object may be carried out 
in a business-like and orderly manner, we do now adopt the 
following Constitution and By-Laws. 

Art. I. This Association shall be called the Sabbath- 
school of the Church of , and 
shall embrace such adults and youth as shall from time to 
time join us in the study of the Scriptures, and such officers 
and teachers as shall be duly appointed. 

Art. II. The officers shall consist of a superintendent, 
assistant-superintendent, secretary, librarian and treasurer, 
with such assistants as may be needed. 

Art. III. The pastor of the church is ex-officio pastor of 
the school. 

Art. IV. The school, being a part of the church, is sub- 
ject to its affectionate care and control. 

Art. V. The superintendent shall be appointed by and 
with the consent of the pastor and session, It shall be the 
privilege of the teachers to nominate, but their choice shall 
be subject to the approval of the session. 

Art. VI. Other officers shall be appointed by the super- 
intendent, subject to the approval of the teachers' meeting. 

Art. VII. The teachers shall be selected by the pastor 

405 



406 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

and superintendent, and approved by the teachers in reg- 
ular session. After four weeks' probation, assent shall be 
required, publicly or otherwise, to the teachers' pledge here- 
with appended, copies of which will be furnished to each 
teacher. 

Art. VIII. The officers shall be appointed annually, and 
shall hold their offices for one year or until others are ap- 
pointed. 

Art. IX. The annual meeting shall be held on the 

day of January in each year, at which time the officers 
shall be appointed. 

Art. X. This Constitution may be altered or amended at 
any annual meeting by a two-thirds vote of those present, 
subject to the approval of the session of the church. 

The By-Laws should determine the hour of holding the 
school, time of teachers' meeting, anniversaries, missionary 
meetings, and contain the teacher's pledge, together with 
such other matters as are deemed important. Care should 
be had not to multiply rules ; they should be few and sim- 
ple, and such as can be clearly understood and faithfully 
carried out. 

The Teacher's Pledge. 

I hereby pledge myself by God's help — 

1. To be loyal to this church, to the superintendent of 
this school and to its rules. 

2. To use all prayerful diligence in the study and prepa- 
ration of the lesson. 

3. To be in my place regularly and punctually. If not 
practicable to be present, to use my best endeavors to pro- 
cure a suitable substitute. 

4. To attend the teachers' meeting. 

5. To visit and know my scholars at their homes, and to 
encourage them to visit me. 

6. To labor and pray earnestly and expectantly for the 



APPENDIX. 407 

immediate conversion and constant religious growth of my 
pupils. 

TEACHERS' HELPS. 

List No. 1. — Containing a few essential Helps which every 
teacher should own. 

May be ordered from the Presbyterian Board of Publication, 
1334 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 

PRICE 

A good Keference Bible, from $6 down to 90 

Superb edition of the Bible, containing Maps, Index, etc., 

from $12 to $5.60 

Brown's Concordance !.... 50 

Webster's Dictionary, from $12 down to... 75 

Phillips' Scripture Atlas 25 

The Bible Text-Book 40 

Mimpriss' Gospel Treasury and Harmony of the Gospels 3.50 

The Teachers' Guide to Palestine 65 

The Art of Questioning........ 15 

The Art of Securing Attention 15 

Lesson Leaf, per annum ,.. 9 

Westminster Question-Book 15 

Preparing to Teach 

The Presbyterian at Work, with Lesson Notes by Drs. Dur- 
yea and Niccolls, Cabinet of Illustrations, etc., single 

copy, per annum 60 

Normal Class Series, Nos. 1 to 4, per hundred 37 

Illustrative Teaching 25 

How to Teach 10 

A Church Catechism. 3 

A Catechism on the Government and Discipline of the Pres- 
byterian Church 5 

Good Words for Sunday-School Teachers 5 

Chart of Scripture Offerings 10 

ADDITIONAL. 

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary $12.00 

The Comprehensive Commentary 20.00 

Cruden's Concordance (Abridged) 1.50 



408 PREPARING TO TEACH. 

PRICE 

Kobinson's Harmony of the Gospels ... 1.25 

Ayres' Treasury of Bible Knowledge (Dictionary) 3.00 

Biblical Antiquities (Nevins) 1.50 

Hand-Book of Bible Geography (Whitney) 2.25 

Coleman's Historical Text-Book and Atlas 2.00 

Simmons' Scripture Manual 1.75 

Hand-Book of Bible Manners and Customs (Freeman) 2.50 



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